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LeMoyne College Continues Upgrading its Baseball Stadium LeMoyne College Continues Upgrading its Baseball Stadium

The Dolphins will have new dugouts this season at Dick Rockwell Field

By Michael Ostrowski

MIKE OSTROWSKI: LeMoyne College has moved all 19 of their athletics programs up to the Division 1 level this season. While some sports like basketball and lacrosse have received plenty of attention since, one sport that’s gone under the radar is baseball.

There aren’t any Dolphins on the field just yet, only some traveling geese, but when they do get back, they’ll be greeted with these new dugouts, which have been under construction since last fall. Lemoyne Director of Athletics Bob Beretta says the renovations to their baseball complex have been planned for a long time.

BOB BERETTA: “This was in the works for many, many years, prior to the Division 1 conversation. We had targeted to get a new scoreboard and dugouts installed as one project, and we had to phase that based on funding. And then COVID hit, so this has been going on many, many years.”

MIKE: Baretta says the new dugouts will be complete before LeMoyne’s home opener in late March. It’s just the current phase of a multi-year project to transform Dick Rockwell Field into one of the premiere college baseball facilities in the northeast… and one that reflects its namesake, one of the most important figures in LeMoyne Athletics history.

BERETTA: “He’s a legend as far as I’m concerned. 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. So, we have some work to do to finish that off, but Coach is and always will be a big part of our baseball program.”

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.”

 

One of the new dugouts at Dick Rockwell Field sits nearly completed, while the field itself remains covered in snow.
After getting a new scoreboard in 2021, the home of Dolphins Baseball had its dugouts rebuilt this past offseason.
© 2024 Mike Ostrowski

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.

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