A walk-off, extra innings win over Portsmouth High School was just the cherry on top of a spirited home opener at East Providence High School’s baseball diamond this past Thursday evening.

Before the game got underway, city officials and local athletics leaders gathered for a short ceremony to officially unveil and celebrate the donation and installation of a row of seats that were rescued from the now-destroyed McCoy Stadium — where the Pawtucket Red Sox (PawSox) delighted local baseball fans for 50 years.

“I want to say the great deal of gratitude I have for the council president, Bob Rodericks,” Mayor DaSilva said. “He comes to us one day and he says, I love baseball. My son happens to be the coach. And I see people sitting on the slope, on the embankment. It would be great if we had some type of seating here. But even more so, it would be great if we could get a piece of Pawtucket and Rhode Island baseball history to be part of the East Providence High School.”

“When we talked about these seats, the mayor said, ‘You get them, and I'll put them in,’” concurred Rodericks, who came up with the idea to try and rescue some of the scrapheap-bound seats over a year ago. “And he came through on his word.”

Rodericks reached out to Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien’s office, and eventually the city was rewarded with a few rows’ worth of red McCoy Stadium seats. While the city had initially offered to pay for them, the City of Pawtucket ultimately donated them free of charge. Installation occurred over the past couple weeks courtesy of workers from the city’s Department of Public Works, at no additional cost to taxpayers.

The seats themselves are actually older than the PawSox themselves. According to Rodericks, they had been in place since 1941 back when the stadium was first being constructed. While the PawSox infamously departed Rhode Island in 2020, a small piece of them will remain right here.

“We hope to keep the spirit of McCoy and the Pawtucket Red Sox going here in East Providence,” Rodericks said.

The seats undoubtedly added some unique and interesting flair to a baseball facility that Secretary of State and proud Townie, Gregg Amore, said was tops in Rhode Island.

“Anyone who is a baseball fan or loves baseball like I do, you sat in these seats with your mom, your dad, your grandfather. This is part of Rhode Island history, and we should never forget the impact that the Pawtucket Red Sox had on all of us, but especially us baseball players,” Amore said at the ceremony. “I was proud to wear the East Providence uniform as a player, I was proud to coach this team for 10 years, and I’m proud of this facility. This is the best facility in the state.”