On a perfect spring day in Versailles, Ind., South Ripley High School officially unveiled the first Reds Community Fund major field renovation in Indiana: Forest G. Waters Field at St. Elizabeth Ball Park.
Twenty years into the Castellini ownership era of the Reds and more than 30 major field projects later, the Reds and Reds Community Fund -- in partnership with St. Elizabeth Healthcare for the fourth time -- reached another part of Reds Country with their baseball and softball field renovation efforts. This year’s beneficiary of an upgraded facility was South Ripley.
Emceed by Reds Community Fund executive director Charley Frank, Wednesday’s program featured speakers representing some of the project’s primary sponsors: Garren Colvin, St. Elizabeth Healthcare president and CEO; Rob Moorhead, South Ripley Community Schools superintendent; Derik Hutton, South Ripley High School principal; Bob Meyer, Tyson Fund president and former teacher, coach and administrator at South Ripley; Phil Castellini, Reds president and CEO.
Also representing the Reds at the event were COO and CFO Doug Healy and chief communications and community officer Karen Forgus Bowman. Many other special guests and project sponsors and supporters were in attendance, including the South Ripley 1981 sectional champion baseball team.
“When I look out here at this field and I look at all these people, it's a testament to what we can accomplish when we work together, collaborate, dream big, think big and then make big things happen,” Castellini said. “We dreamed a long time ago about synthetic fields, and if we could put one in every place we've ever renovated a field, we would. But these are big, expensive projects, and they take a lot of partners. So, as we continue to look for more projects like this, it's important that we find the right communities just like this one, because we're only a catalyst for this work, a relatively small fraction of what it takes to get an entire project done.”
Premier sponsors included the Tyson Fund and South Ripley Community School Corporation; major sponsors included Ivy Tech Community College and the Duke Energy Foundation. As Moorhead would recognize when addressing the crowd, the amount of additional support and sponsorship for the South Ripley transformation demonstrates how tight-knit the community is and how much they care about their student-athletes.
“This project is all about community, and we wouldn't be here without you and without your support, not only with this project, but all of our schools, our students and our athletes at all times,” Moorhead said. “So thank you so much to each and every person who has had a part in making this dream come true for us here at South Ripley. On behalf of South Ripley Community Schools, I want to express my extreme gratitude to the Cincinnati Reds and St. Elizabeth Healthcare for choosing us for your next field project. This is a transformational project that will impact this community far into the future.”
With a synthetic infield, portable mound, adjustable base configurations for baseball and softball and a portable outfield fence for softball, the field can be utilized for all the student-athletes’ needs. The upgrades not only negate many of the weather factors that plague spring sports each year, but they also improve the athletes’ safety. In addition to the field itself, there is also a brick donor plaza, refreshed signage and a new PA/audio system.
Equally as important as the playing surface restoration and its impact is the name that continues to adorn the field: Forest G. Waters. Waters was the first principal in South Ripley High School’s history after the district’s consolidation in 1966, and the superintendent not long after. Moorhead’s father, who was the principal when Waters took over as superintendent, unveiled the previous outfield sign over 40 years ago when naming the field after Waters.
“When it came time for this project and we knew there were going to be some naming options on this field, one thing that was a non-negotiable was [that] Forest G. Waters' name will remain on this field. Because as proud as we are of what's going on today and moving into the future, we also want to honor our past,” Moorhead said. “Forest G. Waters was a man who greatly appreciated athletics. He had an affinity for the education that students received through participating in education-based athletics. He was proud when our field was named after him in the original setting back in the 1980s, and I guarantee you he is beaming looking down today at the new Forest G. Waters Field at St. Elizabeth Ball Park.”
Thanks to the generosity of an entire community, South Ripley’s baseball and softball teams will be enjoying first-class amenities for years to come. Those amenities were on display after the official ribbon cutting when fans were treated to a doubleheader featuring the South Ripley baseball and softball teams against Rising Sun High School.
It was time to play ball, and the Raiders couldn’t have been more excited.
Ava Bastin, a senior softball player, has seen the project evolve over the course of the last several months and was thrilled for the opportunity to play her final high school season on the new field.
“I drive by the field every day for school, and it all just happened so fast and was ready for the start of the season,” she said. “It was really fun to step out there for the first time with my teammates. I was really excited for our team and the baseball team.”
Unlike Bastin and her fellow Raider seniors, sophomore Gabe Stone will have the luxury of playing on the new field for most of his high school career. He was admittedly skeptical that a renovation of this magnitude could be completed in time for this season but was ecstatic to see it come to fruition.
“I thought there was no way it would be done, so I was in disbelief at first, but then just so excited,” he said. “It’s such a home-field advantage. We know the field a lot better than the other team because there is no team around here that has this kind of infield, so it’s way easier for us to play on. And the fans show up and support us because they want to see the field.”
While the field will get its heaviest usage during the spring for games and practices, Forest G. Waters Field at St. Elizabeth Ball Park is by no means a one-season facility; it is a year-round communal hub.
“Beyond the softball and baseball teams that are going to get to play more games with less rainouts, what we learned in towns like Bellevue, Ludlow and Augusta, Ky., is you will do so many more things on this field than just play games,” Castellini said. “They become community gathering places, and the impact goes far beyond our game. When we can pull it together with partners like you and South Ripley, magical things happen beyond the game. So I couldn't be more filled with pride and excitement for what's happened here.”