UM softball donors improve Kessock Facility gets bleachers, press box

Mike Kessock Field, home to the University of Maine softball team, is undergoing a series of improvements that donors and those close to the program hope will put the finishing touches on the facility and turn it into one of the top softball complexes in the east.

By the time construction is complete, which will likely happen by the Black Bears’ home opener in early April, Kessock Field should have seating for more than 600 and a brick press box, among other changes including the strong possibility of a clubhouse in the future.

“My feeling is that anything that’s being done is a step in the positive direction for our program and will allow us to compete at a higher level,” said UMaine head softball coach Stacey Sullivan. “… Any additions to Kessock Field are only strengthening the resources our student-athletes have to come in and be successful.”

The cost of the construction, which doesn’t include the anticipated clubhouse, is approximately $60,000.

Coastal Energy of Southwest Harbor, which is owned by Alan Joseph, the father of UMaine senior outfielder and captain Kate Joseph, is doing the construction work. The money has come from several donors, including Alan Joseph.

Recruits have already responded to the construction, Sullivan said this week before she left for the NCAA’s winter meetings. Increased seating, a potential clubhouse and the Mahaney Dome, a pressurized bubble complex with artificial turf the softball team used for late winter and early spring practices, are all considered attractive to recruits.

“When the work was being done this fall we were having our early signees in on official visits,” Sullivan said. “It was very exciting for them to see work being done and stands being added on, a press box started. It put a smile on their face because they know things are being done to make our program stronger.”

The improvements would put Maine on par with the UMass Softball Complex, which hosted an NCAA regional last season, or even some of the big programs in conferences such the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten, Sullivan added.

An improved Kessock Field could increase Maine’s chances to host an NCAA regional.

“The NCAA is really trying to make a push to get regional sites all over the United States so that each region is being shown,” Sullivan said. “I was basically told that if Maine was to put in a bid to host, and we won our conference tournament, that the NCAA would most likely have granted us the opportunity to host that regional series.”

UMaine athletic director Blake James said the school has put in bids to host baseball regionals as recently as 2004. Maine last hosted a regional in 1991.

Among the projects already completed at Kessock Field this fall are a concrete base under the grandstand behind home plate and additional bleachers to the left of the Slott Family Grandstand. Also, a hilly area behind the third-base dugout has been leveled.

Joseph said there will be more bleacher seating next to the third-base dugout and possibly additional seating on the other side of the first-base dugout.

“That is all going to be done before the first game or my daughter’s going to kill me,” he joked.

The bleachers didn’t have far to travel to get to Kessock Field – they’re part of an 85-foot section of bleachers from nearby Mahaney Diamond, UMaine’s baseball facility. Part of the bleachers were moved a few weeks ago and the rest will be moved as soon as the ground freezes enough that Joseph can get a truck from one field to the other.

Both Joseph and Sullivan have seen sketches and designs for a clubhouse, but that’s on hold while the program searches for donors.

The construction and improvements should complete the work started with a $300,000 donation made in 1998 by Maine alumnus Mike Kessock, a 1966 Maine graduate. The work continued in 2004 with a donation made by Kathryn Slott, a UMaine associate professor of French. Her gift, the amount of which has not been disclosed, funded the Slott Family Grandstand.

UMaine is treating the softball project in a similar fashion to the permanent press box that was recently installed at the soccer field. Both projects are being undertaken independent of university financial support.

“Alan approached me about wanting to do something to enhance what Kessock Field provided,” James said. “It sounded like a great addition to the field and something that would allow the program to continue to grow.”

The level of university support varies from project to project and according to the wishes of a particular donor, James added.

Kessock Field opened in 2000 and has hosted America East conference tournaments in 2004 and 2006. The Black Bears earned the right to host last season’s tournament when they won the conference regular-season title and went 35-19, setting a program record for wins in a season.

The Joseph family and members of the softball team have worked on the field the last four or five weekends.

Kate Joseph, who has a career .250 batting average (2-for-8) with five runs scored, will likely get more playing time in the outfield next season. She appeared in 18 games last season, mostly as a pinch runner.

Despite the fact his daughter is in her final season with the team, Alan Joseph said he still has a lot of motivation to work on the field.

“This is a good thing to do,” he said. “… I want to bring the program to the front, period.”