Kendall Campus Baseball Field Undergoes $200,000 In Renovations
The baseball field at Kendall Campus received a facelift thanks to a $200,000 donation from an anonymous benefactor.
Improvements include a green padded fence—the previous one was chain link—two towering yellow metal foul poles and a batter’s eye screen behind center field to help hitters see the ball better.
The donation was made early last fall and renovations started in December. They took a month and a half to complete.
“This was a big step forward,” said Sharks’ Head Baseball Coach Adrian Morales. “We are very grateful.”
The renovated fence is hurricane resistant, entrenched deep into the ground to help fortify it and is supported by plywood to keep it sturdy. In addition, the center-field wall is now 394 feet at its deepest point, making it 30 feet closer to home plate.
“It just gives you more confidence as a hitter,” said Sharks’ first baseman Matthew Krtausch. “We can hit more home runs.”
The new fence also celebrates Miami Dade College’s rich baseball tradition. A segment in left field lists all 74 previous alumni who have played in the Major Leagues and the date they made their debut.
“When you step on the field you want your name to be up on that wall like the rest of those guys,” Krtausch said.
Another section lists the years the team won national titles—1964 and 1981—and another chunk lists the years the school won its 11 state championships including its most recent one in 2021.
A fourth portion near right field pays homage to the program’s previous four coaches: Demie “Doc” Mainieri, Charlie Greene, Steve Hertz, and Danny Price.
Mainieri, who passed away in March of 2019, was the first junior college baseball coach to win 1,000 games. He finished his career with 1,012 wins at North Campus, won a national title in 1964 and 30 of his former players made it to the Major Leagues.
Green coached at Kendall from 1967 to 1997 and won 935 games, Steve Hertz won 947 games from 1984-2010 and Price won 258 games from 2011-2019. Before coming to MDC, Price won 1,086 at Florida International University.
This is the second substantial donation the baseball team at MDC has received in the past two years. A donor gave the team $20,000 a few years ago to renovate the team’s outdoor batting cages and purchase Rapsodo pitching technology that provides analytical data for pitchers such as spin rate.
Morales, who played at MDC in 2008 and 2009, hopes to continue modernizing the team’s facilities, especially if donors with deep pockets continue to offer support.
On his wish list: a locker room—the team currently does not have one—an indoor batting and pitching facility and field lights that would allow them to play night games.
“Hopefully we can continue to renovate and really make MDC a staple in junior college baseball,” Morales said.
