New ball fields going up at Tecumseh High School

It was a little more than two years ago when a group of community members came together to begin a process that would ultimately lead to developing a baseball field and a softball field on the Tecumseh High School campus.Even before that, Tecumseh resident Tim Vannatter, who had been involved in fundraising for Little League ball fields at Raisin Township’s Mitchell Park, was thinking about what it might take to build a baseball and softball field at Tecumseh High School. “Griff Mills was the Athletic Director then,” said Vannatter, “ and we had been talking about it.” Before long, a volunteer group known as The Fans of Tecumseh Baseball and Softball was formed. Several of the individuals have children in the school system, some who play ball or will one day, but not all. Some are just fans of the game — and Tecumseh School’s kids.The group is modest about their achievements as the baseball field is reaching completion and work on the softball field is moving along. Everyone, including Vannatter, wants to make sure that any credit for the fields goes to a number of area businesses who have made in-kind and financial support and 45 local families or individuals who have contributed.In an initial letter to donors, the Fans of Tecumseh Baseball and Softball outlined the reasons they believed a new field was needed. They noted that there are three baseball teams and two softball teams with only one field for each program. With the addition of another field for each program, they noted, more contests could be played at home.Also, a second field would provide more opportunity for skill development due to increased practice availability. The Fans pointed out that the current one field situation leaves no opportunity for practice time when home events are scheduled. In addition, with two playable fields each program could host at least one home tournament generating weekend interest in the community while also limiting the cost of traveling to similar events at other schools.Finally, they emphasized that the fields could also be used for other youth programs.To date, the group has raised approximately $49,407. Vannatter said the original estimate for two fields was $80,000 to $85,000, but the figures vary depending on how far they want to go.“The planners’ goal was just to build functional fields, not necessarily to include things like bleachers, concessions, scoreboards and such,” Vannatter said. “The goal was to get the two fields built and eventually work toward game facilities as necessary.” He said even though the baseball field is nearing completion, fundraising will continue into next year to make sure everything could be covered.Recently, dugouts and fencing have been installed, with discounts from generous donors, and much of the work has been done, all thanks to volunteers. “We’re still scraping together things to do it at low cost,” Vannatter said, adding that no funding has been provided by the school district. “That was agreed to at the beginning.”He said in addition to community volunteers, there has been great participation by the Tecumseh baseball coaching staff, with Tom Bullinger and his team members helping with sweat equity. Even young children have come out to help by picking up rocks.Extensive support has been provided by F&S Landscape, Slusarski Excavating, Briskey Brothers and Tecumseh Ply-wood, with several other community businesses providing equipment, labor and discounted cost support. Other businesses have made donations and fundraisers have been held.Craig Fulton, who works at F&S Landscaping, said that he and his company are involved to help out, not to get any credit for their work.“We’ve worked at the schools for going on 10 years now and we appreciate the business,” said Fulton. “We have employees who have kids who go to school here and I have young girls who will eventually be over here at the high school. We’ve done work for the schools and they are good to work for, and we want to give back to them.”There was a good deal of work involved to grade and level the softball field where a hill had previously been. Grading and seeding were done last year, and some irrigation work still needs to be done. A new dugout was recently completed and fencing is up on the new baseball fields. A portion of the tall fence blew down with a windstorm recently, but was replaced. “We braced the heck out of it,” said Vannatter. He said of the tall fence, “That’s just how they build the fields now at the better playing facilities,” and added that being painted green helps fans and players see the ball. “I think Tecumseh is a community that’s very passionate about baseball and softball,” said Vannatter. “We’ve certainly had people who’ve worked with us on this who have been fantastic and have given up hours of their time on evenings and weekends to keep this moving forward.” “We’ve come a long way,” said Fulton. “The goal is to have a practice field that could eventually become a game field so multiple games could be played in our district.” TPS Supt. Kelly Coffin confirmed that the district has not spent a dime on the project, but said board members are aware of the project and could possibly take a look at a future budget to see if any assistance might be possible. “If we did anything, it would be small, but I’m pleased to see how well they’ve done with donations,” said Coffin. “We’re very fortunate that people have stepped up and given a lot of time and funds to purchase materials for this project.”