BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Since late May, Buies Creek has been without the thought of baseball but that all changed on Saturday night as the baseball team hosted the “Legends of the Game” dinner. The event served a dual purpose, one that kicked off the 2010 campaign but also one that unveiled new construction as well as renovation plans to Taylor Field.
The night started off with an introduction video that included highlights from the 2009 season and one-on-one interviews with head coach Greg Goff and senior Zach Johnson. The night continued with dinner and following the meal, Goff would unveil the plans for the new Taylor Field. The complex, which is set to be completed by the start of the 2011 campaign, will include new bathroom facilities, concession stand, expansion of the grandstands and a new press box. All of these improvements will make Taylor Field capable of hosting conference tournaments as well as a NCAA Regional.
“It’s important that we stay on the same level as the competitors around us” said Goff. “Programs around us like Winthrop, UNC-Greensboro, High Point and North Carolina State all have state of the art facilities and we want to bring that type of facility here to Buies Creek.”
Campbell has seen many changes in athletic facilities since 2008 with the opening of Barker-Lane Stadium, home of Campbell football; the opening of Gilbert Craig Gore Arena inside the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center; as well as the current construction of the new Track and Field facility located just behind the Convocation Center.
“The renovation to Taylor Field is just another step in the process of making the needed facility upgrades at Campbell,” said athletics director Stan Williamson. “The renovation is something that has been needed for a good amount of time and it is exciting for Campbell Baseball and for the athletics department to see all of it coming together.”
Construction is tentatively set to start in January of 2010 with Phase I complete by sometime in March of 2010.
After the plans were unveiled, Clyde King, Jerry Narron and Jim Perry would take over the night and they certainly did not disappoint the crowd. King told personal stories about his interaction with one of the most lively Major League players, New York Yankee great Yogi Berra. King also spoke highly of long time Yankees owner and president George Steinbrenner saying “I have never met a man who does as much for others as Mr. Steinbrenner does; I have been blessed to be apart of his life for years.”
Following King in addressing the crowd was Jerry Narron. Narron, who was a Major League manager for the Cincinnati Reds and the Texas Rangers, spoke about current issues in the game. He also gave advice to current baseball players of how to live a Christian lifestyle while playing the game and how not to be ashamed of living for Christ no matter what your chosen profession was.
For Jim Perry he focused mostly on his time at then Campbell College and how his tenure in Buies Creek would shape his future. Perry would give credit to Campbell for helping his career get started, “If it hadn’t been for Coach (Earl) Smith I never would have left Williamston (North Carolina); he literally came and picked me up from my house to bring me here.” Perry would also enlighten the crowd on some of the highlights from his long pitching career that spanned 16 seasons and would include the 1970 Cy Young Award.
Saturday night marked the first time in ten years since Perry had visited Buies Creek and he remarked about how the changes around the campus, especially with the athletic facilities, shocked him. “It’s just fantastic to see what can be done when a school is doing the right thing for its students and you can see that happening here at Campbell. With all of the new buildings and such that have gone up lately it shows that things are being done correctly.”
The night concluded with an autograph session as well as a meet and greet with the three special guests.
“What a great night for our program,” Coach Goff exclaimed. “To be able to have a night like this and have the support of the community shows how excited people are to have Campbell become an elite program, one that can contend for championships. The addition to Taylor Field will only serve as the jumping off point to the true potential of what this program can become.”
Check back with gocamels.com in the upcoming days for photos from the event as well as renderings of the renovations to take place at Taylor Field.
Courtesy: Will Bratton