Red Barons Unveil New Turf Field

Corning Community College has completed work with JMZ Architects and Planners to design a turf baseball field on the Spencer Hill campus, a move that will bring the baseball team on-campus for the first time in the school's history. This project entailed an extension of the existing turf soccer field to make it a true multi-purpose sport facility.  Portable mound areas and alternative base inserts will allow the field to be easily converted to a regulation softball field as well. Construction began in May and concluded in October.

This project continues the recent capital improvements to CCC's Red Barons athletic facilities, which included new individual team locker rooms, an athletics office suite, upgraded study areas, and a turf soccer field, that were completed in the fall of 2014. With the completion of the second phase of construction, CCC is one of only three schools in Region III to boast a synthetic turf baseball field.

"This is a huge step forward in strengthening the Red Barons athletic program," said Director of Athletics Stacy Johnson. "The baseball team has been playing off-campus, and it has created some logistical issues. In the last three years we have made on-campus living a reality and now an on-campus field is a true advantage for college athletes who need to make the best use of every minute in their days. These upgrades, including this state-of-the-art competitive environment for the baseball team, will elevate the program to be competitive in Region III. We didn't just put turf down and call it a baseball field; we added amenities such as a padded backstop, spacious dugouts and team bullpen areas.  This is a beautiful facility and considering the difficulty we have had with weather in the spring, this will be an advantage for our program.  This project is unique in its design and has numerous potentials when considering its multiplicity of uses."

A turf surface makes outdoor sports in the northeast more feasible, allowing teams to get on the field sooner in the spring. CCC expects that on-campus games will draw more spectators, reduce the amount of time players spend commuting, eliminate the need for residential students to have personal transportation, and make event coverage and logistics easier for the athletic department staff.

Historically, the team had played at Tuller Field in South Corning, N.Y. and prior to that, at Dunn Field in Elmira, N.Y.