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Melching Field at Conrad Park is a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
stadium located in DeLand, Florida
DeLand is a city in and the county seat of Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. It is ...
. The primary tenant of Melching Field is the Stetson University
Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson.
The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...
Hatters college baseball team, a Division I program playing in the ASUN Conference
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...
.
Features
Melching Field features 2,500 chair and benchback seats, with room for approximately 500 more spectators in a grass berm area along the first base foul line. The partially covered grandstand includes a large press box with two radio broadcast booths, a television broadcast booth, a media area, and twoluxury boxes
The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most expensive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of th ...
. The lower section of seating between the first and third base dugouts features chair-back box seats, while the upper section features bench-back seating. Underneath the grandstand, fans can find a full-service concession area and restrooms.
Player amenities include home and visiting locker rooms
A changing room, locker room (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context), or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...
, coaches' offices and a covered batting cage area. The field itself features natural grass and symmetrical outfield dimensions. An electronic scoreboard is located beyond the left field fence.
History
The ballpark is named for R. Dale Melching, a Stetson alumnus and donor who represented theUnited States national baseball team
The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...
at the 1942 Amateur World Series
The 1942 Amateur World Series was the fifth edition of the Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cu ...
in Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
games during the 1940s and 1950s, as well as the home of the DeLand Red Hats of the Florida State League
The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...
.
Melching Field opened on February 12, 1999, where a crowd of 2,874 saw the Stetson Hatters defeat the University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...
4–3. Since that time, over 250,000 fans have witnessed Hatters baseball at Melching Field, including 49,200 fans in 2005 (which was the 32nd highest attendance in all of NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
baseball, despite the fact Stetson is a smaller school of less than 3,000 undergraduates.)
Secondary tenants
Besides Hatters baseball, Melching Field has also hosted a number of Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournaments (1989, 1991, 1993, 1996–97, 2002–09, 2012), along with high school and amateur tournaments. SeveralDaytona Cubs
Daytona may refer to:
Locations
* Daytona Beach, Florida
* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
* South Daytona, Florida
* The Daytona Beach metropolitan area
* Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach
Motor racing
* Day ...
games in 2004 after the Cubs home ballpark, Jackie Robinson Ballpark
The Jackie Robinson Ballpark (also known as Jackie Robinson Stadium or City Island Ball Park) is a historic baseball field in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is located at 105 East Orange Avenue on City Island, in the Halifax River.
...
, was damaged in Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. It was the third named sto ...
. Beginning in 2009, the field has hosted home games of the DeLand Suns, a collegiate summer baseball team and member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League
The Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) is a six-team Collegiate summer baseball, wood bat collegiate summer baseball league located in the Central Florida region of the southeastern United States. The league was founded in the fall of 2003 ...
.
In 2018, for the first time, Melching Field hosted a Regional round in the NCAA Baseball tournament. The host team from Stetson University
Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson.
The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...
ultimately won the round and advanced to its first-ever Super Regional round appearance.
See also
*List of NCAA Division I baseball venues
This is a list of stadiums that currently serve as the home venue for National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I college baseball teams. Conference affiliations reflect those in the upcoming 2025 NCAA baseball seaso ...
References
External links
* http://www.deland.org/Pages/DeLandFL_Parks/Parks/Conrad * http://www.gohatters.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14600&KEY=&ATCLID=714164&SPID=6736&SPSID=61810 {{coord, 29.019921, -81.302097, type:landmark, display=title Stetson Hatters baseball College baseball venues in Florida Sports venues in Volusia County, Florida Sports in DeLand, Florida 1999 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1999