The festivities at Drakes Creek Park Monday night were the final realization for Andy Gilley that his shot in the dark actually came true.

The Hendersonville High School assistant baseball coach put in for a grant that would help fund the renovation of the school’s home field after the floods of 2010 damaged it. The $47,366 grant was awarded by the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, the renovations were made and the field officially had its grand re-opening Monday night.

With representatives of the Hendersonville Parks and Recreation Department, the Nashville Sounds, BTF Senior Grant Coordinator Meghan Chisholm, the school itself — both administration and baseball alumni — and Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys there to sing the National Anthem, the field officially re-opened for the Commandos’ home opener against White House.

“It’s overwhelming and humbling really,” Gilley said. “Humbling in that all these people would want to come out here to see what’s going on, and just overwhelming that we have something this nice. We had a nice place to play before, but for a city park this is as good as anybody’s going to get.”

The grant provided funds for the restoration of the outfield, including the installation of an automatic irrigation system, warning track and outfield fence. The completion of the project will allow play on the newly restored field for 200 players from the high school varsity and junior varsity teams, as well as the Babe Ruth Recreational League, middle school spring league and various travel teams.

“I sit out here and look at what we’ve got … it’s come a long way,” said longtime Commandos coach Mike Hendrix, who leaned on the dugout fence gazing at the renovations prior to the ceremonies. “I sit here and look and think about how good these kids have it and I hope they appreciate what they’ve got.”

Gilley thinks they do.

“I think our kids have now learned to take pride in their place as well. They feel like this is home,” he said. “It’s good for them and all the guys in our baseball hall of fame that came back here tonight. “

Chihsolm was all smiles as she entered the field for the first time, seeing first hand what grants like these mean to a community.

“It’s always a delight and amazing experience to walk into a renovated baseball or softball facility that the Baseball Tomorrow Fund funded,” said Chihsolm, who came from the league offices in New York for the ceremony.

The Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) is designed to promote the growth of youth baseball and softball throughout the world by awarding grants to support field renovation and construction projects, equipment and uniform purchases, coaches training material and other selected program expenses.

Since its formation by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1999, BTF has awarded approximately 600 grants totaling more than $21 million to non-profit and tax-exempt organizations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.

“After the flood, our community was extremely concerned as to how we were to re-establish the facility,” Hendersonville Parks and Recreation Director Dave LeMarbre said in a release. “With the support of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, we were able to exceed expectations and create a first-class facility. Our community is extremely grateful and we look forward to many players using our fields for years to come.”

Approximately 300,000 youth players have benefited from programs and facilities supported by the fund. BTF also facilitates league-wide initiatives including the collection and distribution of new and gently used equipment to organizations in need as well as field maintenance education clinics.

“The Baseball Tomorrow Fund is honored to assist in funding the renovation of a baseball field that is so integral to the Hendersonville baseball community,” Cathy Bradley, executive director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, said in a release. “We know the flooding devastated the lives of so many in this area, and we are happy to help with the restoration effort where we can.”

— Corby A. Yarbrough, Sports Editor
@Corby_Yarbrough on Twitter
corby@thegallatinnews.com

By Chris Lynn
chris@hendersonvillestandard.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last fall Hendersonville Assistant Baseball Coach Andy Gilley was combing the internet, looking at different sites when he happened upon the website of Liberty Tech High School in Jackson Tennessee.

Gilley wanted to check out the facilities of the new school, but instead of marveling at the new facilities he saw something that would impact the Commandos facility more than anything else had in over 10 years.

“I guess you could say that I stumbled on everything because I wasn’t looking for anything in particular when I found the information,” said Gilley. “I saw that Liberty Tech’s baseball team had gotten a grant for their lights, so from there I went to the website of the group that made the grant and I did a little investigating.”

The website Gilley ended up on was the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a joint venture between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association put in place to promote the growth of youth baseball and softball.

Gilley thought it was a long shot, but after careful investigation, he downloaded the 20 plus page application and began a process that would end up taking months to complete, but ended with a $47,366 check that will transform Hendersonville’s baseball facility forever.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think this was going to be something we were going to qualify for, but I thought we’d have no chance if we didn’t at least give it a shot,” said Gilley. “I knew there was going to be some work involved on our part, but all that work paid off in a big way for our kids and community after it was all over with.”

Gilley was right because there was a lot of work that had to be done before he could even send in the paperwork.

First, Gilley had to get a demographics report from not only Hendersonville, but also from the surrounding cities of Goodlettsville and Gallatin.

Then he had to show how the grant would promote the game of baseball in Hendersonville, and had to explain what the grant would be going to, and how those upgrades would help a field that is used by so many different teams.

“Hendersonville’s field is used by two other high schools (Merrol Hyde and Hendersonville Christian Academy), travel teams, 11 or 12 middle schools, and some recreation teams,” said Parks and Recreation Director Dave LeMarbre. “There are probably about 45-50 total teams that use that field along with any baseball tournaments that are held because that’s really our only true baseball field.

“I think the field is in good shape for a park field, but the upgrades are going to make this a field Hendersonville and the Hendersonville community can be proud of, and it will be a field that teams love to play on.”

Once Gilley presented the application, showed how many teams actually used the field on a regular basis, and presented the proposal in person to a representative from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund the grant was approved and the check was deposited just earlier this month.

“I’ve never been as nervous as I was the day I deposited that check because I’ve never held that much money in my hand at once,” said Gilley. “Once it was in though and I had time to think of everything that money was going to go for, and what the end result was going to look like I was really overcome.

“I remember what this field used to look like, and how far it’s already come, but what this field is about to look like is probably far beyond what anyone could anticipate. I think we’re going to have the best field in our district, and probably one of the nicest in the state when everything is done, and it’s definitely going to be something the community can be proud of.”

The upgrades, which are scheduled to begin just days after the Fourth of July Celebration at the park, will include installing a new metal wall from one dugout to the other, in-ground automated irrigation in the outfield, a warning track, and the entire outfield will be redone, and will include laser grading and new grass.

All these upgrades will take time and result in the field being closed until the Commandos start practice for the next preseason in early February.

“The fall league baseball will end up being played on field 13 or field 6 while the upgrades are made, but that’s going to be best for everyone involved because the last thing we want to do is let anyone on the field before everything is ready,” said LeMarbre. “Our department will be doing the labor as part of the match program, and will end up saving $8-10,000, but we felt like that was the least we could do after everything Coach Gilley has done. We really appreciate all his efforts because we know there was a lot of time and work that went into it on his end, but he wants what’s best for Hendersonville and the community because he grew up and played here too.”

Hendersonville Baseball Coach Mike Hendrix also said he appreciated all of Gilley’s efforts and is looking forward to the upgrades.

“This is going to be a great thing for Hendersonville Baseball, and the community as a whole,” said Hendrix. “This will benefit everyone because this field is used by so many in the community.

“If you’ve played baseball in a competitive setting chances are you’ve played on our field, or you will, and that’s why this project is so important. This is going to be the biggest undertaking since we turned this from a softball field into a baseball field, but I think the changes will be just as dramatic.”