Pittsfield Will Host 150th Anniversary Game of College Baseball

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
08:41PM / Monday, February 02, 2009Print Story | Email Story

Dan Duquette, left, and Mike Barbera talk about the upcoming 150th anniversary game.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Nearly two centuries of baseball history will converge at a college baseball "cathedral" — Wahconah Park — this May.

Williams and Amherst college will renew a baseball diamond rivalry begun 150 years ago in the city, toting up yet another run on Pittsfield's scoreboard. The game marking the anniversary of the first intercollegiate baseball match will be broadcast on ESPNU.

"It's only fitting that this game be played here because of the rich, very rich history that Pittsfield has and has enjoyed as it relates to Major League Baseball," said Mayor James M. Ruberto on Monday.

The game could be described as a triple play, bringing national sports news coverage, college baseball and its Hall of Fame and Wahconah's newest home team, the Pittsfield Defenders, together for a weekendlong event.

Forgot to add the chess game, and the youth clinics and the vintage baseball game. Let's just say this one got hit out of the park.

Ruberto was joined by organizers Dan Duquette, an Amherst alum, and Mike Barbera, a Williams alum, and other representatives, including Jonathon Tosches, general manager for the Pittsfield Defenders, at Patriot Suites for the announcement.

The announcement wasn't a surprise; the Ephs and Lord Jeffs had played a "dry run" last year for the 149th anniversary. Well, dry run may be the wrong term. The game got rained out and was played three weeks later.

A timeline of Pittsfield's baseball history

Dan Duquette, a partner in the Pittsfield Defenders, said a rain date for the Sunday, May 3, game was set for the following day but the park had a tarp — so the game should go on.

So should the vintage game that same day in which Amherst and Williams alum will don antique attire and play by the same rules as in 1859. Organizers are working with baseball historian John Thorne, who discovered the 1791 Pittsfield bylaw that appears to be the oldest recorded reference to the game, to ensure the authenticity. (Nokona Athletic Goods Co. is donating the uniforms; two of its executives are partners in the Defenders, as well as two other teams.)

"We're trying to recapture as much of that day as we can," said Barbera.

That's where the chess game comes in. The same day the teams met in Pittsfield (considered a neutral field) in 1859 to play the nation's first collegiate baseball game, the Lord Jeffs and Ephs also battled over a chess board. (Barbera joked that he expected Williams "to have several Russians on their team.")

The vintage game will have a time limit — the first one went 25 innings, with Amherst winning 73-32. There was no information on who won the chess match.

The main game, the third time the colleges will have met this spring, will be broadcast on ESPNU, thanks in part to Pittsfield native Mike Ryan, an Amherst graduate working at ESPN. Radio America's "Talkin' Baseball" with Phil Wood and Tim Donner will also be broadcasting from Pittsfield.

The organizers are also planning other events, including youth league clinics at the Dan Duquette Sports Academy and the College Baseball Hall of Fame, which will send two representatives. Other events are expected to held within the city.

Pittsfield is sponsoring a poster contest to commemorate the 150th anniversary game. Local artists are being invited to submit their work by March 13 to the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts. It's all part of integrating the city's history and culture together, said the city's cultural director, Megan Whilden. "We expect lots of submissions that will hit the ball out of the park."

The winner will receive $1,000 and season tickets to the Defenders. Entry forms will be available at the Pittsfield Web site and at City Hall.

The College Baseball Hall of Fame is planning an exhibit at its Lubbock, Texas, headquarters about the Western Mass. rivals and Pittsfield's role in college baseball history.

The Amherst-Williams matchup may not be an annual event, but the organizers are hoping that the Hall of Fame will recognize some type of yearly celebration in Pittsfield, since its the birthplace of college baseball.

"I think all of us really hope that this is the beginning of maybe a refocusing of Pittsfield not just as a great baseball city but a historic college baseball city," said Barbera. "... and the future of Wahconah Park as a real cathedral of college baseball going forward." Baseball Time Line

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Prospect Meadow Farm Opens New Vocational Barn

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:40AM / Thursday, June 18, 2026

A charcuterie board at the event displays fare from some of the regional producers.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prospect Meadow Farm last week officially opened a new barn to sell plants and other goods it produces.

Prospect Meadow Farm Berkshires is an expansion of ServiceNet's first farm in Hatfield that has provided meaningful agricultural work, fair wages, and personal and professional growth to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since opening in 2011.

The Berkshires farm opened on Crane Avenue two years ago and has now introduced a new vocational and unwinding space for the more than 25 farmhands who get paid a minimum wage.

"This is a facility for our folks who work on the farm to learn additional skills and do additional work," said Vice President of Vocational Services Shawn Robinson at the Friday event. "So we have a food packaging space, we've got a walk-in cooler space, we've got a floral design space, we've got a farm store room for staff, lunch room, and then a meditation room that we're standing in now, which is when you're having those hard moments and you need to get away from everything.

"This is going to be a peaceful place you can find and sort of find some comfort, and then hopefully get back to work."

The barn was built by funds from the state Executive Office of Economic Development and the state Department of Agricultural Resources that equated to around $600,000, with ServiceNet contributing around the same amount. The structure took over a year to build.

The state's Department of Developmental Services Commissioner Sarah Peterson spoke on how meaningful this farm and ServiceNet is to her and that this place is important to those who need it.

"Places like this are so crucial because they create opportunities for people living with disabilities that aren't plentiful," she said. "People living with developmental and intellectual disabilities have an unemployment rate over 25 percent five times the rate for people without disabilities, even more jarring is under appointment, which is at 80 percent. That means that four out of every five people with disabilities earn below market rate wages and have limited upward mobility.

"The building itself is really impressive, but what you're really seeing here is the result of vision. It's about opportunity, it's about community, and it's founded in the belief that every person deserves the chance to learn and work and contribute to thrive under the leadership of ServiceNet."

One aspect of the barn will be the market where produce from the farm and other local growers will be sold as well as keeping the tradition of Jodi's Seasonal, which previously occupied the location, alive with plant sales. The market will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"Everything you see in terms of the tomatoes, the fresh produce, that's all done with the hands of our farm hands here, individuals with disabilities who get out every single morning, get in those greenhouses, put their hands in the dirt, and make all of this happen, and this is just the start," said Robinson. "This farm is a little over a year old at this point, but give it another two years, and we hope to be growing enough food to share throughout the Berkshires."

Robinson said the farm is focused on local food security, recently partnering with the Hatfield Council on Aging and planning to work toward making enough food to partner with places in the Berkshires.

He said the barn serves the Hatfield farm and what the employees here needed.

"We've been able to learn the needs of the farm hands who work there and so we have learned that they need a comfortable break space for those times where it's hard to be out in the fields, we've learned that a quiet space for when you're going through something you need to be away from people are key, and then also we have a small farm store in Hatfield, but we've seen increasing interest in retail work from our participants, so we thought it was time for a larger-scale farm store," he said.

Robinson noted that Prospect Meadow Farm has helped the individuals working there feel valued and head.

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