Fans lined their lawn chairs along the orange netting around the gravel, stones, and concrete Friday afternoon to watch the Southern Maine Huskies baseball team in their blowout home opener.
The new 500-seat Towers Field stadium is in the process of construction, with only the playing surface and concrete dugouts completed, just enough for regular season play. The stadium is projected to be completed by early fall, with the grandstand, press box, and dugouts finished in four to six weeks, according to Athletic Director Al Bean.
Friday the Huskies did not mind getting a little snowed on or trudging through mud between excavators and backhoes to get to the field. Starting pitcher Travis Ferrante, sophomore pitched six shutout innings against the Colby-Sawyer Chargers, who were behind 13 – 0 at the end of the third inning.
After six and a half innings the game was over with a jaw-dropping score of 24 – 1. The assault of the Chargers was proliferated by the middle of the line-up, with left fielder Tyler Delorme, junior, batting fourth with three hits and three RBI, thirdbaseman Brian Marshall, sophomore, with three hits including a double, and batting in two, and designated hitter Greg Stacy, freshman, with two doubles on the day. Outfielder Chris Waymon, sophomore, had the only home run of the day, his first of the year.
The Huskies are now 11 – 7 on the year, and soon they will be playing on a field that is of the same caliber we have known the team to be.
The total cost of the stadium is just over $1 million with much of the costs donated by local businesses, and raised through grandstand seat sponsorship. Individuals and businesses can sponsor seats at $100 each, the seat then being adorned with an engraved plate.
Notable local businesses that have contributed to the construction include R.J. Grondin and Sons, Jack Bell Construction, the USM Department of Facilities Management, among many others.
Alive Editor Elise Adams can be contacted at [email protected]