STANDISH, ME – Those driving by Larry Mahaney Diamond will notice a few changes have been made to a baseball field that was already known as one of the finest in the region.
Improving the team's facility has long been a priority for Head Coach Will Sanborn '86, who is now in his 20th year as the Monks' skipper. As a result, SJC players have learned to anticipate field enhancements when returning for the non-traditional season in the fall and this year the team was greeted with a host of new features.
One of the most significant improvements can be seen from a distance as the Mahaney Diamond scoreboard received a facelift late in the summer. The 324 square-foot Nevco scoreboard was painted and a new header featuring the Monks logo was constructed and attached to the board by Neocraft Signs, Inc. out of Lewiston, Maine.
Another noticeable addition lies just beyond the right field fence – a pair of 15' x 70' batting tunnels constructed over two of the visitors' bullpen mounds. This add-on will help the program in a variety of ways: the Monks will have longer pre-game batting practice times as opponents now have their own cages, the tunnels can be utilized for live batting practice, and the team now has four total cages for batting practice – two on each side of the field.
The team's on-field locker room has also undergone a variety of changes. More stalls have been added, the entire room has been re-painted, a new steel-core door has been installed, and carpeting has been put down. Also, each locker is adorned with custom-made locker tags.
The press box has been re-carpeted and a large shed was built to store some of the equipment that was once housed in the locker room.
Both sides of the fence were repainted and several fence panels were replaced. Also, the entire field was cleaned up with a gas-powered edger and a platform and ramp for the team's field tarp was constructed.
Larry Mahaney Diamond, the 2008 ABCA/Turface College Division Field of the Year, has been the host site for many prestigious baseball tournaments, including the Maine State High School Baseball Tournament, New England Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament, Maine American Legion Baseball Tournament, NAIA New England Tournament and NAIA Super Regional Tournament. In recent years, Mahaney Diamond has been the site of the North Atlantic Conference and Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournaments.
