Baseball field revealed in ribbon cutting ceremony

On Saturday afternoon, Vanguard’s baseball team along with former players and alumni celebrated the opening of the new Dean Harvey Field with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Thirty-five members of the Harvey family traveled from across the US to celebrate the revealing of the new field.

The highly anticipated field was finished in nine months after being projected as a two-year project. With contributions from patrons, families, Nike and others, the project raised more than $500,000.

Jeff Motske, chair of Vanguard’s Foundation Board and former teammate of Harvey, is the main source for the project and honoring the field in Dean’s name.

“Dean is the perfect guy for this. It feels fantastic to be able to honor him for who he was more than anything,” said Motske.

Dean Harvey transferred to Vanguard from Hawaii in 1985, the year the Lions won the national championship with his help as second baseman.

In 2011, Harvey was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare, incurable, fatal brain disorder. After less than a year of suffering, Harvey passed away at 42.

Harvey’s legacy still lives on through his 1985 teammates whom he won the championship with. They are more than thrilled that the field was named in his honor.

Harvey’s wife is still in shock of the field being named after her husband. She never imagined his story would be shared with the Vanguard baseball community.

“It’s amazing and it’s an honor. And as Dean would say, ‘it’s not about Dean, it’s about team,'” said Stachi Harvey.