Hayesville opens new baseball field in style

With a pre-game dedication ceremony, a capacity crowd and a pair of shutout wins by the home team, the opening of Scott D. Penland Baseball Field delivered all the way around.

The Hayesville High School baseball team improved its record to 10-0 on the season with 8-0 and 11-0 victories over Cherokee Central during a doubleheader on Thursday, May 27 at the new state-of-the-art facility in Hayesville. The field is part of Phase I of the Clay County Sports Complex and will act as home field for the Yellow Jackets varsity team.

"I'm really excited about the season that the baseball team is having," Clay County School Superintendent Dale Cole said. "They're having a first-class season and now they have a first-class facility to play those home games in for the rest of the season. Hopefully they can win a state championship."

Like its predecessor, the new facility was named after Scotty Penland, a member of the Clay County Board of Commissioners and the former longtime superintendent of Clay County Schools. Penland spent 38 years as a school superintendent, including 34 in Clay County.

"No one is a superintendent for 30 years anymore," Cole said. "It is extremely impressive that he was able to serve the county in that capacity for so long and he continues to serve the school system and the county as a county commissioner. We wanted to just go ahead and transfer that name to the new field and just keep it as it was."

Penland said he was surprised and honored by the decision to keep his name on the new field.

"It was certainly not expected, but in the end it's not about me, it's about the use for this county," Penland said. "One of my philosophies is that if you're going to do something, do it first class and I think we did that with the schools and with the ball fields. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out."

Planning of the sports complex began in early 2018 and coincided largely with the pre-construction preparation of the new Hayesville Primary School, which was originally expected to be built where the baseball field now stands, and vice versa. Due to flood plain changes by the Army Corps of Engineers, officials were forced to flip the two sites.

Cole credited Rob Peck, chairman of the Clay County Board of Commissioners, for his work on the project.

"I try to be on site in some capacity daily to ensure continued progress and communicate daily with those involved so we can quickly address any issues as they arise," Peck said. "A lot of people worked hard to make what started as a conceptual plan a reality. They include the BOCs, County Manager Debbie Mauney, previous County Manager Mark Pullium, County Attorney Merinda Woody, County Finance Director Betty Patton, Clerk to the BOCs Betty Bradley, Recreational Director Jerry Payne and his staff — Barry, Randy and Mark — as well as the BOE, School Superintendent Dale Cole, School Finance Officer Shelley Hollingsworth and additional support staff of both the county and school."

While the Hayesville High baseball team's schedule will take priority during its season, the new field can be used for other events. Peck said the county also secured a 99-year lease with the VFW, which allowed officials to address aging amenities and potential liabilities on the two fields most recently used by the varsity teams. Those fields will now become home to the Hayesville Middle School programs.

"This was all done with no tax increase to the citizens and as a direct result of our focus on ensuring fiscally conservative government," Peck said. "The Clay County Board of Commissioners believe that contributions to our schools, public safety, access to healthcare and recreational opportunities help build communities and as such, we have focused much of our attention on these areas in recent years. As we progress through Phase II and III of the project, we want the community to know that we remain committed to investing in the future of Clay County by providing safe places for our youth and families to gather."