North Campus Reopens Demie Mainieri Field After 28 Years

Nick Belmonte still remembers the words that nearly snatched his baseball dreams away more than 50 years ago.  

After struggling through fall ball, Belmonte was summoned to the office of Miami-Dade North’s legendary baseball coach Demie Mainieri.  

Mainieri, a man who was small in stature but tall in heart, uttered the words no baseball player wants to hear: “I don’t think you’re gonna make it.”

Belmonte quickly retorted: “No, coach, no, I can make this team. You got to give me a chance.”

The following day, the then-18-year-old aspiring outfielder marched back to the North Campus baseball field “like that conversation never took place.”

Then, the unthinkable happened. 

Mainieri walked toward Belmonte, tapped him with his fungo bat and said: “Forget everything we talked about; you’re gonna be fine. You’re on the team.”

Fifty-one years later, Belmonte, who has since had a 37-year sports broadcasting career and is a scout for the Chicago Cubs, recounted that pivotal moment while standing on the same North Campus baseball field where it all went down. 

For nearly three decades that field was dormant and overrun by vegetation but it was alive and vibrant on Dec. 9 during a rededication event to honor Mainieri after six months of renovations.

More than 75 guests, including former MDC baseball players such as two-time World Series champion Randy Bush, who played for the Minnesota Twins, and Steve Hertz, who coached the now-defunct Wolfson Campus team, flocked to the corner of 110 St. and NW 32nd Ave. for the alumni baseball game to remember Mainieri’s legacy.

Among the renovations: new turf grass, benches, LED fixtures, a field irrigation system, an electronic scoreboard and a refurbished sign dedicated to Mainieri. 

The park also features refurbished bathrooms, dugouts and batting cages. 

“This is a day that our family has dreamed about for many years,” said Paul Mainieri, who grew up alongside his brother, John, in the dugouts of the park witnessing their dad, Demie, coach the Falcons (the North Campus’ old mascot).

The facelift is the first phase of a $2.5 million project launched in May to expand the athletic facilities at North Campus. 

Phase two—reconditioning of the softball field—and phase three—the addition of a practice field on the northeastern side of the main field—are underway and slated to be completed by the end of spring.  

Demie Mainieri field was dedicated to the famed coach in 1989 to honor his legacy.

A legacy that consisted of historical triumphs—from launching MDC’s baseball program to winning North Campus’ lone Junior College World Series title in 1964 and tallying 1,012 wins throughout his career—and values of work ethic, camaraderie and accountability he instilled in his players.

But six years after the field was dedicated, North Campus cut sports from its budget and the College’s athletic programs were consolidated to Kendall Campus. 

Although the field continued to be used occasionally by the community for baseball and summer camps, time, nature and neglect took their toll on the old ballpark.

“When the program was dropped and the programs were consolidated several years ago, it was a very disheartening thing for my dad; his life’s work basically looked like it was going down the drain and it created a lot of hard feelings,” Paul Mainieri said. “But the worst thing was that the field was in such disarray and it was a vacant lot. We were all saddened whenever we would come back to visit Miami and not see this field being what it once was—the Taj Mahal of baseball fields in the state of Florida.”

That all changed last May when conversations about restoring the field turned into action.

“My heart is crying today,” said former Associate Head Baseball Coach Jim “Cheech” Mansilla, who was at MDC for 44 years and said he was a “pebble in [the College’s] shoe” for six years to assure the field was returned to its former glory.

To further honor the baseball giant’s legacy, the Sharks’ 2023-24 uniforms will include a pinstripe pattern and a crest with the initials MD interlocked on the left chest of the button-up jersey.  

“I can never explain to you what [Demie Mainieri] brought to this community just [by] being who he was, making a difference not just to those that played for him, but to anyone that got to meet him,” said Sharks Head Baseball Coach Lazaro Llanes.

At the game to rededicate the field, alumni huddled around tables to share burgers, Italian sausage hotdogs, baked beans, coleslaw and soda and the current team squared off against alumni in a five-inning game.  

Paul Mainieri threw the first pitch, which was caught by Sharks catcher Matthew Say. The alumni team won the game, 2-1.

But the goal for Demie Mainieri Field goes beyond the recent rededication event. The College hopes it touches the community.

Two schools—Hialeah Senior High School and Mater Lakes Academy—have shown interest in using the North Campus field for practices and games, according to North Campus President Fermin Vazquez. 

On Jan. 6, Vazquez and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, a Cuban baseball legend who pitched for the New York Yankees, announced that the Cuban Professional Baseball Federation would use the field for two weeks to prepare for the Intercontinental Baseball Series, which will be played in Barranquilla, Colombia from Jan. 25 through Feb.1 

“For the North Campus, [this] goes back to embracing community sports and being able to use our facilities and resources to serve the needs of our community and our youth,” Vazquez said. 

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