Damage control
- Updated: January 17, 2022
Jacksonville baseball program suffers setback as Mother Nature takes out home dugout at Henry Farm Park
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVIILLE – Jamison Edwards got a phone call from Jacksonville football coach Clint Smith early Sunday morning that under any other circumstances would have been music to a COVID-quarantined baseball coach’s ears.
And then the other shoe dropped.
“The first thing he said was you may get some work done on your baseball field,” Edwards recalled. “And then he said the roof of the dugout on the home side is messed up.”
Strong winds overnight Saturday destroyed the home dugout at Henry Farm Park where the Golden Eagles play their games. Not the kind of news one wants to get one month out from their home opener against Pleasant Valley.
Edwards knew it was a windy overnight when he discovered the roof his doghouse blown across the yard when he woke up Sunday. When he heard about the dugout his first thought was the wind just peeled back the roof like the lid of a tuna fish can, like it did when a gravity wave took aim at the dugout a couple years ago. It was much worse.
The roof had come completely off, exposing the electrical wiring underneath and the cramped dressing room in the back to the elements. There also was some damage to the concession stand/press box and the netting between the dugouts that protects spectators from foul balls.
The playing surface is not affected.
“It is a legit mess,” Edwards said. “It’s not a simple throw a couple sheets of tin down and let’s roll.”
It left all kinds of questions. Whose insurance will cover the repairs? When can the work be done? Will it be completed in time for Opening Day? Can the Golden Eagles even play without a dugout?
The high school doesn’t have a baseball field on campus and has a unique arrangement to use the park. The City of Jacksonville owns the property and the field and the Golden Eagles have a lease agreement to use the field and maintain it.
Jacksonville Christian also plays its home games there and, ironically, Edwards and JCA coach Tommy Miller were scheduled to meet this week to schedule their mutual field usage.
“The first thing that went through my mind was can we get this put back together so that my seniors year doesn’t get interrupted,” Edwards said. “We’re still two years out from having baseball season totally wiped out. I’m sure we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they can play at their field.”
“The way things are nowadays nothing surprises me,” Miller said. “We’ve just got to get in there and we’ll do whatever Jamison wants us to do to try to get it ready.”
It didn’t take long for news of the damage to spread. Normally, the older Golden Eagles players would be doing their throwing program at the field, but there was none of that Sunday.
Senior infielder JaeTaj Morris drove up to use the cage for some extra batting practice and was shocked by what he discovered, as evidenced by the first words in his call to Edwards.
“Uh, coach,” he began, “I think we have a problem.”
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