When baseball players at Park return for the fall semester soon in the upcoming weeks, there will be a new look to Comfort Field.
In recent months, a 18-wheeler brought a prefabricated press box to Parkville, giving the school its first press facilities at the baseball park.
The structure was bought from American Press Box, Co. in Cretwood, Ky. It was constructed there and becomes the first press box at the stadium. In past years, school officials keeping track of the game and stats had the luxury of working under a canopy or tent — not the most ideal situation when baseball starts in February.
A new scoreboard and new sound system will also be in place at Comfort Field, part of a budgeted construction project. The funds are a ‘re-investment’ from the school, which saw an uptick in students after adding developmental and junior varsity squads to the athletic programs.
Academic All-Americans
Two Park University members are representatives on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America College Division Men’s and Women’s At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Men’s volleyball player Victor Neves landed on the men’s first team for the second year in a row, while Gen Stelmacovich (golf) earned a spot on the second team for the women’s award for the first time in her career.
The Google Cloud Academic All-America College Division At-Large Teams includes student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
Neves’ grade point average shines above his numbers on his numbers on the box scores, as well, completing his academic career at Park University with a perfect 4.0 with a double major. He is walking away two CoSIDA Academic All-American first-team awards, two CoSIDA Academic All-District team awards, and two Daktronics-NAIA Men’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete awards.
Stelmacovich is the second women’s golfer to land on the women’s at-large team in school history. She has excelled in the classroom by carrying a 4.12-grade point average, a chemistry major with a minor in mathematics. Over her time, she received American Midwest Conference Academic All-Conference all for years and was also named to the Daktronics-NAIA Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete team in 2017 and 2018.
Playing, coaching in Aruba
Park softball coach Lindsey Derry was on the coaching staff for the USA Athletes International softball tour in Aurba, that competed June 25-July 2.
Derry competed in the non-profit’s educational sports tour in 2013 as player.
“Softball has given me a lot to be grateful for from the experiences I have had, and I want to be able to share that with these student-athletes,” Derry said.
Attending the trip a group of past, current and future Park players: Jessica Stupar, Courtney Seymour – a Platte County graduate – Lexie Duncan, Danielle White and Anna Albaugh.