Thomas More University in Crestview Hills held an important joint press conference with the Florence Y’alls Tuesday morning to announce a partnership between the university and the baseball team, which culminated in the renaming of the Y’alls stadium.
Administrators from the Y’alls and TMU made multiple critical announcements that will change the way people in Northern Kentucky look at the school, athletic department and local baseball.
The press conference featured university TMU President Joseph L. Chillo, Florence Y’alls President David DelBello, Florence Mayor Diane Whalen, TMU Athletic Director Terry Connor, Y’alls partner David Heilbrunn, Head Baseball Coach Jeremy Martin and Y’alls General Manager Max Johnson.
As you drive north toward Cincinnati on I-75, you can look out to your right and see the Florence Y’alls baseball stadium. The stadium will now be sporting the name of Thomas More University. The stadium, officially named Thomas More Stadium, will host Saints baseball home games starting in spring 2023. The Saints will continue to play this season’s home games on campus.
“When the opportunity to partner with Florence Y’alls presented itself, we could not pass it up,” Thomas More Athletic Director Terry Connor said. “To give the baseball team the chance to play in a professional stadium is a great opportunity for our student-athletes and coaches.”
It’s a win-win for local baseball, local business and the city of Florence. The Y’alls will continue to invest in youth baseball around Northern Kentucky. The TMU baseball program can use the stadium as a recruiting draw. TMU players get access to better facilities. The facility can be used year round with the Y’alls and Saints playing games and training there throughout the year. Florence could potentially draw more tourists.
“Thomas More Stadium is a field of dreams. It took someone walking into our office 20 plus years ago saying that might be a great place for a minor league stadium. Lots of bumps, lots of bruises along the way,” Florence Mayor Diana Whalen said. “But the quality of the product that’s now being delivered from that stadium is second to none. The addition of Thomas More bringing a team to that field early in the spring is another answer to keeping that facility used year round.”
Chillo also announced that Thomas More has officially submitted their application to move up to NCAA Division II. It’s been six months in the making for the athletic department. The Saints competed in NAIA from 1947 to 1990. They moved to NCAA Division III after the 1990 academic year. They competed in Division III for nearly 30 years, moving back to NAIA after the 2019 academic year.
The Saints were accepted for provisional Division II membership in August 2021. The school must now wait for their comprehensive feasibility study to be approved so they can become an official member of the Great Midwest Conference in July 2022. Upon acceptance, the Saints will begin Division II competition starting in 2023.
Thomas More has upgraded their facilities over the past few years. TMU has upgraded Republic Bank Field for the football, soccer and lacrosse programs. They’ve also upgraded the Connor Convocation Center. Chillo hopes the partnership between the Y’alls and TMU, as well as recent facilities upgrades, will help bolster the school’s Division II application.
“Our athletic programs have done exceptionally well competing at the national level. About a year ago during our strategic planning process, we identified an opportunity for what would be the next direction for our athletic programs and student athletes,” Chillo said. “We wanted to give them the best situation to succeed both academically and athletically. We made the decision to begin to do an institutional assessment to see if we could move up to NCAA Division II.”
