Turlock High School baseball players of yesterday and today will come together this Saturday to celebrate Mark de la Motte, as the school’s ballfield will be named after the longtime Bulldog teacher and head coach.

Saturday morning’s field dedication will take place at 10 a.m. It will come more than a year after the Turlock Unified School District unanimously approved to name the field after de La Motte. The vote itself came nearly five years after the original proposal of naming the ball field was introduced to the Board and an abundance of revisions to the policy on naming campus facilities.

De la Motte taught at Turlock High School for 38 years and coached baseball for a total of 42 years. During his 26-year tenure as head varsity baseball coach, the Bulldogs won over 500 games with eight Central California Conference championships and two section title appearances. He is the winningest baseball coach in the school’s history.

De la Motte coached over 100 student-athletes who continued their playing careers in college. In addition to all the collegiate success many of his former players achieved, over two dozen have played baseball professionally.

Following the field dedication ceremony will be an alumni softball game. There will also be a silent auction, games for kids and a full snack bar open throughout the game, with all proceeds going towards the Turlock High School Baseball Boosters.