College football

Quantum leap for SCCC Generals

Facility and southern travel make college baseball more attractive to prospects

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY - The excitement level of college baseball is surging in Sullivan County.

With a new on-campus baseball field, ready this spring, the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals will add a key element that prospects are concerned about: facilities.

The field is the end product of efforts by athletic director Chris DePew, assistant athletic director/baseball coach Mike Marra, the administration, the college’s trustees, building and grounds director Robert Feldman, project manager Tracy Hall and Senator John Bonacic (R/Mt Hope, NY).

DePew campaigned for the ball field over the replacement of the basketball floor, which can be used for the immediate future.

“I want another sport to rival our success in basketball,” DePew said.

Standing beside the new field with its backdrop of colorful fall foliage, DePew, Marra, Feldman and players Casey Pazzalia and Mike Cook beamed with pride. “This was a pipe dream just a year and a half ago,” DePew said.

DePew and Marra expect the field to be the home of SCCC baseball, the nexus for summer baseball tournaments and Sectional baseball games.

It is likely that teams will use the facilities off-season, as they will have access to the dorms and the on-campus food services.

Attracting events is part of a complex fund-raising strategy that will pump revenue back into the facility for lights, a concession stand and a two-story press box.

Ketchum Fencing will provide the field fencing, sod will be courtesy of Saratoga Landscape and a backstop will be anchored by poles installed by Ross Electric.

The SCCC Construction Tech class will design and build the dugouts. The field’s dimensions are 350 feet down the line and 370 to straightaway center. The field will feature a state-of-the art-warning track and an eight-foot fence in the outfield. Six-foot fencing will ring the rest of the field.

The Generals previously played their games at Baxter Stadium in Mountaindale. While the coach and team liked the facility, its remote location was a serious drawback.

With Baxter Stadium slated for demolition, some of the equipment, including the stands, may be moved to SCCC.

This fall, Marra is fielding a team that has a roster of 36, as compared to last year’s 16.

Among the cadre of talented players are nine local recruits, including recent graduates Mike Prunka of Eldred, Casey Pazzalia, Corey Van Keuren and Mike Cook of Liberty, Joe Bonacci of Monticello, and Chris Gates and Victor Leventritt of Fallsburg. JR Rennison of Tri-Valley will join the team this spring.

At present, the Generals have a 4-2 record playing against NCJCAA Division II schools. Marra said that his players are making a fine adjustment to college-level ball. “Kids may have hit for very high averages in high school, but it is far more challenging to deal with talent at this level,” Marra said.

The state-of-the-art facility is likely to add to the baseball program’s allure. In the past, local prospects have opted for Orange County Community College because of its facilities and southern travel trips in early spring.

On March 11, the SCCC team will travel to the Cal Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, SC, as the only New York team.

The tournament affords the Generals national exposure, and potential ranking will pit the team against St. Louis Community College (CC) from Missouri, Mercer CC from New Jersey, Northwoods CC from Minnesota, Owen CC from Ohio and Northern Essex CC from Massachusetts.

Marra and his players will keep at it this winter with four-on-one practice sessions that stress skill development.

Marra, who was formerly a stadium manager at Gruner Field in Kingston, hopes to bring some of the same fundraising strategies used there to SCCC. The school will be selling engraved brick pavers and advertising space on the fencing. The school will consider providing advertising in exchange for trade of services on the facility itself.

Expect SCCC’s baseball program and its new field to be in the headlines this spring as the college takes a quantum leap forward in providing the county with a central hub for America’s favorite pastime.