ROCK HILL, SC--The next phase in the development of The Winthrop Ballpark is scheduled to begin in early 2006 thanks to a gift of $1.5 million from an anonymous donor.
Winthrop President Anthony DiGiorgio announced the gift Wednesday, during his annual opening address to Winthrop faculty and staff. In keeping with the donor’s wishes, The source of the gift was identified only as “a new friend… a baseball fan.”
The second phase in the completion of the baseball facility will include: players' locker room, coaches' locker room, players' lounge, weight room, training room, equipment room, four indoor batting cages, coaches' offices, elevator to press box level,new state of the art scoreboard with digital capabilities,sun screen/batter's eye, full size auxiliary practice infield between the Ballpark and Memorial Courts tennis complex.
“Winthrop University is indeed fortunate to have friends who are willing to make this kind of commitment to the future of our program," said athletic director Tom Hickman. "This donation will allow the athletic department to move forward with our original vision for our baseball facility. Completion of this final phase of The Winthrop Ballpark should give us the opportunity to further advance our baseball program on the regional and national levels. Our students, fans and supporters will now have another reason to be proud of the athletic facilities at Winthrop and a venue which provides an even more enjoyable experience attending our home baseball games.”
Winthrop head baseball coach Joe Hudak, who begins his 15th year at the helm this year after directing the Eagles to their fourth NCAA tournament appearance this past season, is thrilled about what this news means for the future of the program.
"This is truly a great day for Winthrop baseball. The completion of Phase II of The Winthrop Ballpark will mean that Winthrop University will have the finest college only, on-campus baseball facility for a school its size in the country," said Hudak.
"We are very fortunate that an individual thinks enough of Winthrop and our baseball program to make such an incredible contribution. This donation will allow us to construct a monument, not only to the hundreds of former players and coaches who helped build this program, but also to the current players and all future members of the Winthrop baseball family who will continue to work hard in our pursuit of excellence".
"It is so exciting to see how far we have come in the fourteen years I have been at Winthrop. The University has become so well-respected in the academic community. It is very satisfying to be part of an athletic department that has mirrored that success on the playing fields. It is truly amazing to see the improvement in our athletic facilities across the board in the past five or six years. We are very blessed to have a President and Board of Trustees that want Winthrop to be the very best in every aspect of college life."
Hudak says that when the stadium was built in 2001, it served as a tremendous boost to Winthrop's recruiting efforts. According to the Eagles coach, this past year's junior class was the first class that he and his assistant coaches signed after the stadium was constructed. That class included three high draft picks in Daniel Carte, Kevin Slowey, and Chris Leroux, as well as six other starters in Jacob Dempsey, Matt Repec, Alan Robbins, Mike Honce, Chase Edwards, and Jonathan Settle.
"We would not have been able to attract those talented players without the new stadium," he said. "The construction of Phase II will have that same effect. We will now be able to offer student-athletes the opportunity to receive an excellent education, while playing for a nationally competitive baseball program in a facility that is one of the best in the country."
