June 17, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State baseball consistently "lit up the scoreboard" en route to a 2010 Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship and State Farm Valley Tournament title. When the Redbird's bats get hot again next season, they will light up a new, energy efficient LED scoreboard at Duffy Bass Field.
"We are constantly looking for ways to improve our program," Illinois State head baseball coach Mark Kingston said. "This beautiful scoreboard will enhance the gameday atmosphere for both players and fans. As we continue to push to new heights, this addition indicates the level of commitment to ISU baseball."
Thanks to a partnership with Advocate Bromenn Medical Center, workers last month dismantled the Redbirds' 25-year-old scoreboard beyond the right field wall and replaced it with a state-of-the art board from Daktronics.
"The prior scoreboard was not meeting the aesthetic standards of the new facility and was beginning to have reliability issues," assistant athletics director for facilities and operations Peyton Deterding said. "Some of the key components of the new board are the energy efficient LED lighting, wireless controller technology, automated scoring and the overall 'wow' factor of the design."
Even though Illinois State underwent a $3.2 million baseball stadium project two years ago, the scoreboard was one of the few things not upgraded during construction.
"Obviously, building the stadium was a huge leap forward for baseball," ISU Executive Associate Athletics Director Larry Lyons said. "The scoreboard became the next logical and necessary step in our goal of making this a premier on-campus baseball facility. Our marketing and facilities staffs worked hand-in-hand to make this enhancement possible. Assistant atheltics director for marketing and promotions Brad Ledford developed a relationship with Advocate Bromenn to provide the sponsorship dollars, and Peyton really did his homework well on the design, form and function of the board."
When it came to financing the new scoreboard, Bromenn stepped up to the plate for the Redbirds.
"Advocate Bromenn Medical Center and affiliate Orthopedics and Sports Enhancement Center deserve a special thank you for their part in making this happen," Ledford said. "We are proud to call each of them partners, and we look forward to lighting up the new scoreboard next season."
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