On June 4, 1965, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees moved that the baseball field on South Hill be named Freeman Field in honor of Coach James A. “Bucky” Freeman, who retired in 1965 at the age of 70. During the 1987 Reunion Weekend a ceremony was held to unveil a plaque honoring Freeman near the field.
The facility received the 1990-91 Beam Clay Diamond of the Year Award. A story in the April 1991 issue of Golf & SportsTURF, titled “Bucky Freeman Field: The Stuff of Dreams”, detailed the development of the diamond.
Field-level dugouts were constructed in 1990. An enclosed press box over the third-base dugout, a storage shed, a batting cage and hillside bleachers were also added. During the summer of 1992, generous donations in memory of longtime supporters Edgar Sebring and Jack Morrow allowed for new signs outside the press box and renovations inside. A state-of-the art scoreboard was built thanks to a generous donation by Steve Minskoff ’81.
On July 20, 2012, the facility name was officially updated to Valesente Diamond at Freeman Field to honor Ithaca's long-time head coach, George Valesente '66, who had completed his 34th year at the time. Valesente would retired from IC at the conclusion of the 2019 season after 41 years at the helm of the program.
The ballpark’s dimensions are 334 feet down the line in left field, 400 in straightaway center field and 328 in right field. The left-center and right-center power alleys are 405 feet.
The field has hosted a number of special events, including the NCAA Division III New York regional playoffs and the baseball portion of the Empire State Games.
