Foxcroft Academy baseball field named for long-time superintendent of buildings and grounds
DOVER-FOXCROFT — For three decades the late Roger E. Davis served as superintendent of buildings and grounds at Foxcroft Academy. Davis’ love and dedication to his alma mater will live on with the naming of the Roger E. Davis Baseball Field.
The field honoring the 1952 graduate who passed away at the age of 87 in August 2021 was formally dedicated during a ceremony on Friday, Aug. 4, moved inside to the Jim Robinson Field House on account of weather, to kick off Foxcroft Academy Alumni Weekend. The diamond will also receive a brand new scoreboard thanks to the Caruso family and other donors.
“It is a great honor to recognize a true legend of Foxcroft Academy and it is only fitting we name the Foxcroft Academy baseball field after Roger,” Head of School Arnold Shorey said. “A man who not only excelled as a player and as a coach of baseball but also left a lasting impact on the Academy.”
ROGER E. DAVIS BASEBALL FIELD — Joe Caruso and Debbie Davis and their family members look at a sign for the newly christened Roger E. Davis Baseball Field at Foxcroft Academy during the dedication ceremony in the Jim Robinson Field House on Aug. 4. A 1952 Foxcroft Academy graduate, the late Roger E. Davis served as superintendent of buildings and grounds at his alma mater for three decades.
“We must remember the dedicated superintendent of buildings and grounds who, with a few exceptions, stayed with us much longer than most heads of schools,” Shorey said.
Davis excelled in cross country, football, basketball, and baseball at Foxcroft Academy. He went on to play baseball at the University of Maine and would later start his 30 years as superintendent of Building and Grounds at Foxcroft Academy. In 2011 he was part of the inaugural class of the Foxcroft Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.
Shorey said Davis played a pivotal role at Foxcroft Academy through his hard work, dedication, and love to the school. “Even today many alumni tell me they can not walk on the lawns at Foxcroft Academy without feeling a deep connection to Roger’s legacy,” he said.
FIELD NAMESAKE — Foxcroft Academy Head of School Arnold Shorey reads a plaque for the Roger E. Davis Baseball Field as family members of the late namesake look on during an Aug. 4 dedication ceremony in the Jim Robinson Field House. Davis was the long-time superintendent of buildings and grounds at his alma mater and was part of the inaugural Foxcroft Academy Athletic Hall of Fame class in 2011.
The campus baseball field was in need of a new scoreboard after the previous model had been in place for 16 years.
“We were fortunate to receive the generous lead gift from Hillary and Joe Caruso, Class of 1996,” Shorey said, mentioning several dozen others contributed. “Their boys Jack and Griffin are both talented baseball players and Joe serves as an assistant coach on coach (Danny) White’s FA baseball team. With the lead donation and the support of 43 other donors we raised the necessary funds to purchase a new scoreboard. The scoreboard will stand in left center proudly declaring the field as the Roger E. Davis Baseball Field.”
Plaques for both Davis and Caruso family will be placed on the home side of the backstop, “serving as a lasting testament to their contributions,” Shorey said. A granite sign will also be installed behind the home dugout.
CARUSO FAMILY BASEBALL SCOREBOARD — The Caruso family lead a group of several dozen donors for a new scoreboard on Roger E. Davis Baseball Field at Foxcroft Academy. From left are senior Jack, sophomore Griffin, seventh-grader Lauren, 1996 graduates Joe and Hillary, and Foxcroft Academy Head of School Arnold Shorey.
Coming to the podium. Davis’ daughter Rae placed a Foxcroft Academy hat on the podium and thanked the school for the honor and ceremony. She also thanked the Caruso family as their actions “are beyond the words of thank you.”
Rae Davis said the entire family appreciates the honor “that will live forever on the field of his favorite sport, baseball.”
She said her father loved his family and Foxcroft Academy and he engrained this in his children and grandchildren. Rae Davis said her father went to work every day at 6 in the morning “and he went every weekend at 6 a.m. to check the boilers, to check the fields, the lawns, and maybe just to make sure the buildings were still standing.”
DAVIS DIAMOND — The Foxcroft Academy baseball diamond is now named the Roger E. Davis Field.
Shorey read both plaques with the one for Davis saying he was a Foxcroft Academy icon, “Because of his vision and passion, Foxcroft Academy athletes had the privilege of playing on the finest fields in the state, and they continue to do so today.”
“One only needs to look around the Foxcroft Academy campus to see his enormous contribution to Pony athletics. Alumni, friend, mentor, FA Hall of Famer, Roger was one of the best and his name will live on with the Roger E. Davis Field at Foxcroft Academy, dedicated this day, Friday, August 4th, 2023.