DeWitt, N.Y. (NCC News) – Syracuse University may be the largest college in the region, but it’s not the only one with NCAA Division 1 Athletics.
Nearby LeMoyne College in DeWitt moved all 19 of their Athletic programs to the D-1 Northeast Conference at the start of this academic year. While basketball and lacrosse have received plenty of attention since, a sport their neighbors to the west don’t have – baseball – has gone relatively under the radar.
When the Dolphins return to Dick Rockwell Field in late March, they’ll be greeted with new dugouts, which have been under construction since last fall. It’s just the current phase of a multi-year project to transform the facility into one of the best in the northeast.
“This was in the works for many, many years, prior to the Division 1 conversation,” LeMoyne Director of Athletics Bob Beretta said. “We had targeted to get a new scoreboard and dugouts installed as one project, and we had to phase that based on funding.”
The baseball field is named after longtime head coach Richard “Dick” Rockwell, whose teams won a total of 757 games over his 29 years at the helm. His number 24 was retired last spring.
“He’s a legend as far as I’m concerned,” Beretta said. “He’s a legend here at LeMoyne. He’s a legend in NCAA baseball circles, and we want to make sure that our facility that bears his name is one that is worthy of his name.”
The dugouts will be finished for LeMoyne’s home opener on March 22. Then Beretta will turn his attention towards the next phase – fundraising for the installation of chairback seats to replace the current bleachers.
