By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic
Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Cutting the ribbon on the new field, from left, front row: Alfredo Mesa, executive director of the Florida Marlins Community Foundation; newscaster and Curley alumnus Tony Segreto; Christian Brother Sean Patrick Moffett, Curley Notre Dame principal; Archbishop Emeritus John Favalora; John Quirino of Quirino Construction Co.; Catherine Bradley, executive director of Major League Baseball's Baseball Tomorrow found; and Curley Notre Dame baseball coach Jerry Yeash.
MIAMI � The late afternoon sun was hazardous to batters, and the uneven field filled with rocks and weeds created another danger for Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School�s baseball players.
�You were afraid of diving for the ball because you�d get scratched up,� said Frank Gomez, a 1968 graduate who remembers hitting a ball that went through the window of a nearby apartment building. �Coach Paul Comeau said it was the furthest he�d ever seen someone hit a ball. However, I had to pay for the broken window.�
Gomez, an all-city first baseman, returned to his alma mater Oct. 30 along with other former baseball players, alumni, current students, parents, benefactors, faculty and local officials for a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of a newly renovated and relocated baseball diamond at the school. The new field�s location puts it closer to the school�s facilities and parking lot and eliminates the hazard of batting into a setting sun.
Also present at the event were Alfredo Mesa, executive director of the Florida Marlins Community Foundation, and Catherine Bradley, executive director of Major League Baseball�s Baseball Tomorrow Fund. The fund awarded an $85,000 grant toward building the field.
Curley-Notre Dame�s principal, Christian Brother Sean Patrick Moffett, called the completion of the field the realization of a dream for the school and community. The school is located on a 14-acre campus which sits between Miami�s Design District and Little Haiti.
�Thanks to the significant contribution from the (Baseball Tomorrow Fund), a laser graded field carpeted with the highest quality St. Augustine sod provides area youngsters the opportunity to play baseball like the pros while their families delight in this green oasis between N.E. Second Avenue and Federal Highway,� Brother Moffett said.
The Baseball Tomorrow Fund, now in its 11th year, promotes the growth of youth baseball and softball throughout the world with grants for field construction, equipment, uniform purchases, coaches, training materials and other expenses. Since 1999, the fund has awarded more than 480 grants of about $18 million to non-profit and tax exempt organization in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. About 214,000 youngsters have benefited from the fund.
�The fund gives kids the opportunity to learn and play the game,� said Bradley.
The Marlins representative, Mesa, whose organization endorsed the project, said that a lot of love has gone into Curley Notre Dame�s field.
�It�s important that the players work and play hard,� he said to the current team members, who were wearing uniforms worn throughout the team�s history, from 1955 to the present. �I talked to the current players and each one knows where they want to go to school after graduation. That�s a credit to Brother Moffett.�
Serving as master of ceremonies for the event was Tony Segreto, a retired NBC 6 news anchor and 1968 Curley graduate and baseball player who described his four years on the team as the best years of his life.
While the Baseball Tomorrow Fund contributed to the renovation, John Quirino of Quirino Construction volunteered the labor. He said he has dreamt of a new field since his son, John Paul, class of �98, played shortstop on the team.
�Four principals and 12 years later, we finally got it built,� said Quirino, who was a volunteer coach when his son played on the team. �You really had to appreciate baseball to watch a game played on the old field.�
Jerry Yeash, the school�s baseball coach since 1982, said that he was overwhelmed with the new field. He recalled playing against Westminster Christian School in the early 1990s when New York Yankees All-Star Alex Rodriguez played on that team.
�Yes, we pitched to him every time,� Yeash said.
Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora, who was also present to give his blessing, called the field beautiful and stressed the importance of discipline in athletics.
�Discipline is part of what it means to excel,� he said.
Baseball at Curley Notre Dame has an extensive history. In 1955, Archbishop Curley High School (the boys school prior to the 1981 merger with Notre Dame Academy) formed its first team and by 1958 construction began on the school�s first on-campus baseball field.
In 1970, three of Curley�s hitters ranked in the county�s top 10: Bill Frohbose, Rolando de Armas and John Bush. In 2007, Curley Notre Dame player Joseph Pagan was drafted by San Diego.
This article has been updated since it was originally posted.
Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora blesses Archbishop Curley Notre Dame's new baseball field.
