Hofstra softball's Bill Edwards Stadium shows off major makeover

The oversized scissors cut the ribbon during the ceremony between home plate and the pitcher’s circle. Then retired Hofstra softball coach Bill Edwards and university president Dr. Susan Poser moved on to their next task on this sun-splashed Sunday at Bill Edwards Stadium.

They threw the ceremonial first pitches before the finale of Hofstra’s three-game series against Campbell on stadium renovation dedication day, Bill Edwards Day and Alumni Day, a day that ended with a 2-0 loss for the Pride.

They played entirely off campus before this series, borrowing the softball fields at Farmingdale State and RVC Sports Complex in Rockville Centre for their six home games because this stadium had been undergoing a makeover since mid-January.

The stands are the same. The rest is a fresh start for a place originally constructed in 2000 — new clay infield, new turf in the outfield and around the field instead of grass, new fences (padded and moved back a bit), new scoreboard and new netting.

The man whose name is on the stadium gave it a four-star review.

“It is a beautiful upgrade,” Edwards said. “It’s absolutely amazing. To have it done in such a professional way now — the infield is really the best surface that you can put on an infield. It keeps the game honest . . . And, of course, in the Northeast, you want to have that good turf on the outfield.”

The 81-year-old Smithtown resident could stare out in appreciation, then flash back to the time before he led Hofstra to 928 wins, 18 conference titles and 15 NCAA Tournament appearances across 25 seasons.

“I think back on the first day that I walked into the equipment room and saw seven bats, a broken pitching machine and a bag of balls,” said Edwards, who coached the team from 1990 to 2014 and had the stadium named in his honor in 2015 before being honored again on this day.

Susan Cassidy-Lyke, the new coach here after winning 570 games across 20 years for Molloy, said, “I appreciate the administration going to bat for us and fixing up the facility. It looks awesome. I think it’s going to be great for us for recruiting.”

One of the greatest players in program history was a face in the crowd.

“Coming back as an alumni, this is absolutely incredible,” said Olivia Galati, a two-time All-American righthander from West Babylon and a member of the team from 2010 to 2013. “Gorgeous, gorgeous field. Updated. Love the turf. And I’m happy for the players and the coaches who get to experience this.”

Melanie Yepez was another face in the crowd. The North Bellmore resident’s daughter is junior centerfielder Lily Yepez.

“I think it’s amazing compared to what it looked like, what it was before,” Melanie said. “They deserve it. They’ve been a successful team for a long time, and it’s nice that they put money back into the program.”

Alanna Morse, the senior shortstop from North Bellmore who also was Lily’s teammate at Mepham and in Little League, had her aunt, Susan Koscis, sitting as a fan in the stands.

“I’m very excited that Alanna got a chance to play on the new field in her senior year,” Koscis said.

Hofstra is 22-18 overall and leads the CAA North at 15-3.

Cassidy-Lyke likes “how they have responded to our coaching.”

Lily Yepez’s response? Try a .414 average.

“I do well under her coaching style,” she said, “somebody that is very predictable, who’s going to push you every day.”

She had one of the Pride’s two hits in this rubber-game defeat. They’ve won five of their six CAA series.

“I think this team, we all really enjoy each other and we feed off of each other’s support that we all pour into each other,” she said. “And it’s really easy to play when you have a staff who believes in you and girls around you who believe in you as well.”