The Saint Joseph’s College Athletic Dept. will host a formal softball field dedication ceremony prior to the Monks’ Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader versus Rivier College on Sat., April 9.
The softball field at Ward Park will officially be renamed as the Richard W. Bailey Field in honor of longtime Head Coach Dick Bailey of Dresden, who also served as the Dean of Students at Saint Joseph’s for 16 years and re-joined the softball staff as an assistant last fall.
The dedication festivities begin at 10 a.m. with a reception at the softball field and the ceremony follows at 11 a.m. (rain or shine). The St. Joe’s – Rivier doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. and an alumni softball game is slated after the completion of the twinbill at 5 p.m.
The day of activities is concluded with a gathering and special tribute to Coach Bailey in the Chalet, which begins at 6 p.m.
Alumni, family and friends are invited to attend the special event and take part in honoring one of the most important figures in SJC Athletics history. To RSVP to the event, please contact the Alumni Office at 893-7890 or email hplati@sjcme.edu by Mon., April 4.
In 11 seasons as the Saint Joseph’s College head softball coach, Dick Bailey amassed 244 wins (a program record upon his departure in 1995), six conference championships, four NAIA New England Championships and one NAIA Northeast Championship, which resulted in the program’s first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament in 1994.
Bailey’s Monks won 20 or more games nine times and broke the single-season wins mark six times while he was at the helm. In 1992 Bailey was named the District 5 Coach of the Year and collected the same honor for the Maine Athletic Conference in both 1990 and ’95.
Coach Bailey went on to skipper the Colby College softball program for 13 seasons and guided the Mules to a 197-177-1 record. In 25 years of coaching, Bailey accumulated a 443-296-1 record with a corresponding .599 winning percentage.
Bailey, hired as Dean of Students at Saint Joseph’s in 1979 after having served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps, was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
