The Hillsdale College baseball team officially moved into the Hardenbergh Clubhouse this month. 

The clubhouse, located under the grandstand of the Lenda and Glenda Hill Stadium, holds 37 player lockers as well as a common space for the team, seven showers, a separate coaches office, and space for a training room in the future. 

Head coach Tom Vessella said the coaching staff and administration had discussed converting the formerly-empty space under the grandstand into the team’s clubhouse at the time of the stadium’s completion in February 2024.

“It was something that we’ve always talked about, and then with the way the space worked underneath — really kind of a unique space and kind of crammed it in — but it’s wasted space if we don’t have this,” Vessella said. 

Vessella and Director of Athletics John Tharp said the generosity of the Hardenbergh and Delp families, as well as other donors, allowed for the quick construction of the space.

“As far as other clubhouses go, it’s a little unique with how it’s designed, but we can make this work with the small space,” Vessella said. “We played Tetris a little bit to make everything fit.”

Construction on the clubhouse began in the fall and finished in January, leaving the college to finish minor details like furniture and key card security access. Vessella said despite the aim to have the space finished by the first home game March 12, flooding from the bathrooms above the coaches office in February prevented the team from accessing the clubhouse sooner. Vessella said pieces of drywall and several ceiling tiles had to be replaced due to the flooding, and the team had to allow time for the carpet to air out.

“In any project you’re gonna have little hurdles and problems you have to solve along the way,” Vessella said. “We’re here now, and you forget about all of them once you’re in the space. So now it’s like, ‘wow, what a cool little spot.’”

Tharp said the new facility elevates the baseball program and will help the baseball team in recruiting for years to come. 

“Hillsdale College has made a commitment to athletics,” Tharp said. “They’re about the whole person, and Dr. Arnn has been about that from the beginning — about the heart, spirit, and body of our students and our student athletes. It just shows a commitment to the athletic department and to the students at Hillsdale College.”

The clubhouse comes as a step up from the team’s former space in the Roche Sports Complex, which included two separate spaces — one for field players and one for pitchers — with one shower in each area, which Vessella said didn’t always have hot water, and limited room for players’ gear. In the new space, each player has his own locker and there is room for players to relax after practice.

“Everything is an upgrade,” Vessella said. “We have all the exact same stuff that we’ve had in the past, it’s just that now we have the whole team in one space with a bigger locker. So they still have lockers and showers and the normal stuff, but now they have more space for all of their gear. We have seven working showers with actual warm water, and we have an office with coaches. So we’re all together in one spot.”

Sophomore infielder Rocco Tenuta said he is excited for the team to share the space and to get to see players outside of practice.

“With our old locker rooms in the sports complex, we had two separate locker rooms — it was hitters in one, pitchers in the other,” Tenuta said. “All my roommates are pitchers, so I would just see them when I go home and hardly ever see them at practice or in the locker room. It’s a lot of fun to have everybody in here at the same time.”

Tharp said the baseball clubhouse is one phase in the college’s plans to expand other athletic facilities, including a new softball field, which he said the athletic department is balancing considering the construction on Mossey Library and the Grewcock Student Union on the main campus.

“It’s awesome that the school has this commitment to upgrading our facilities, not just for our student athletes, but for every student,” Vessella said. “It’s exciting that a first-class institution like ours is going to have first-class facilities for everyone over time.”