Let there be light

There was no cheering or fanfare, but August 14, 2023 will go down as one of the biggest days in the history of Carroll County High School baseball.

During the August 14 meeting of the Carroll County Board of Supervisors, the board unanimously voted to move forward with installing lights at Bill Worrell Field — home of the CCHS baseball team. Fifty-five years after the high school opened in 1969, the Carroll County baseball program will now have lights for the very first time.

“I have had lights priced three times in the last 20 years trying to get lights on the baseball field. It started back in 2004 when I first became AD,” said Carroll County High School Athletic Director/Assistant Principal Darrin Matthews. “So it would be a tremendous upgrade to our facility.”

Pipers Gap District Supervisor Joey Dickson offered the motion to install the lights Aug. 14 during Board Member Comment Time after he spoke about recreation in the county.

“The new splash pad has been a great success and it has been good to see,” Dickson said of the new splash pad that opened July 28 at the Carroll County Rec Center. “I appreciate Tracy (Moore) on his work there. I took my grand-kids four times at least and it is always packed. They love it…I’d like to make a motion to move forward with lights on the Carroll County baseball field.”

Chairman Moore said the county had received the RFP (Request for Proposal) for getting the lights installed. Dickson’s motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

“We hope to have them ready for the spring baseball season,” Dickson told The Carroll News. “As a member of the budget committee, Tracy Moore really pushed us to find the money without raising taxes to get these lights installed. As a group, we were able to get this accomplished to better our community.”

Moore said it took the work of many to get the project green lighted.

“I want to thank (Carroll County Superintendent of Schools) Dr. Mark Burnette and his staff. They have met with some lighting companies and AEP to try to get the ball rolling on it,” Moore said. “I would just like to thank the county administrator and his staff to find the funds to do it. The board has been really, really good about addressing our youth. We have a lot of issues with people needing water and broadband, but we still find a way to help our youth out. It’s something we have worked toward for two years and it’s exciting to see it finally come to fruition.”

Moore said recreation and things for youth to do ranked at the top of the countywide survey the county sent out in recent years.

“It had been needed for a long time. One of the sticking points we had talked about, Carroll had a region game this year that was really close to being suspended again, so it’s good to put it front and center,” Moore said. “Playing baseball in the 1980s with Joe Tompkins and Bill Worrell, I think about all the great kids that came through that program and never got to play under the lights. But moving forward, you just try to address what is right in front of you.”

Adding lights to the CCHS baseball field will open up all kinds of new opportunities for the Cavalier program. For starters, Carroll has had a number of games suspended or called early due to the lack of lights over the years. That will no longer be the case, while there will be other upsides as well.

“It allows the community to enjoy a Friday night JV/varsity doubleheader just exactly the way they do with softball. I think it will increase attendance and revenue,” Matthews said. “It also allows you to host some tournaments you maybe wouldn’t have a chance to host. Now if you want to have a region or district tournament and play two or three games in a day, you can do that.”

Additionally, now CCHS will be able to host AAU, USSSA or any other similar tournament and charge for the field with the addition of lights.

“I think it is fabulous because I always wanted to see lights on that field,” said Matthews, a CCHS baseball alum and former area baseball coach. “I know as a player and even as a coach, I enjoyed coaching or even playing a game under the lights.”

Allen Worrell can be reached at (276) 779-4062 or on Twitter@AWorrellTCN

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.