The 11-0 victory for the San Lorenzo Valley High baseball team for the first game of the 2016 season on Feb. 24 was not the only high point for players and fans that day.
Varsity Coach Shane Sutcliffe got to show off for the home crowd how he and a host of community volunteers spent their summer — bringing a new scoreboard to Wayne Richards Baseball Field.
“It went up in the summer,” Sutcliffe said Monday. “It’s just really nice. It beautifies our campus, you know.”
Sutcliffe lead a community fundraising effort that paid for the $20,000 scoreboard and then brought in planning and construction experts, like Charlie Prograce of R3 Engineering, who volunteered their time and expertise to erect the scoreboard.
“My office engineered the system and put together the construction drawings. Worked with the geotechnical engineer,” Prograce said Tuesday. “Really it was more about all these contractors coming out. I just organized them.”
Sutcliffe said the planning for the stadium addition began three years ago.
“I’m from SLV, so I was born and raised in the Valley and I felt like all of us are big fans of SLV athletics so I kind of wanted to make a nice statement for our school,” said Sutcliffe, a 1993 SLVHS graduate.
The coach credited professional and community volunteers who made the installation happen. He got financial support from Morgan Scarborough of Scarborough and Lumber, Guy Peabody and Sedation Dentistry, Chris Amos and Broughton Fire Protection and Pat Mirande. Valley professionals like Prograce also donated time and expertise, including: Todd Iles, owner of Pacific Coast Concrete Pumping who donated pumping services and labor; Mike Boynton owner of Boynton Fencing and SLV native who also fenced the track; West Coast Crane gave crane services and skilled workers; Los Animos Concrete; Terry Miller Concrete; Matt Saunders who volunteered with the building of steel cages; and, crane operators Ben Eaton and Paul Daniel Emmrich.
“Probably one of the best projects I’ve been involved with,” Prograce said. “Why wouldn’t you want to meet some great contractors and pull together with the community and give back to a program? Shane does so much for the community.”
For his part, Sutcliffe said the work may not yet be done.
“In the near future there could be some kind of glove or something that you hit and if you hit it, you get a certain thing,” he said.
Prograce — who is now in his first season as the JV baseball coach — believes the pride he feels is shared within the Valley community.
“We take our baseball seriously here. I want our baseball field to reflect the kind of effort that Shane and the coaching staff has put in here,” he said. “My son and I, when we drive by, every time we’ve got to look at the scoreboard. It truly was a totally fulfilling experience.”
It’s a pride Sutcliffe understands.
“All those people contributed with open arms. Giving up their weekends and giving up their time after work to come out and help out. It’s just a reflection of our community,” he said. “That’s why I settled my family here and why I coach here.”
