Article courtesy of the Chillicothe Gazette

Brock Netter 7:22 p.m. EDT June 8, 2016

CHILLICOTHE - The time had come to light up Joseph W. Hoffman Field.

After 46 years of hosting day game after day game, the Chillicothe Post 757 Colts can now begin to host night games after finalizing and installing six new light towers Thursday afternoon.

The 757 committee spearheaded by General Manager Art DeVore and Don Rockhold, along with 757 coach Tom Barr, Steve Neal, Ron Shoemaker, Bob Puffer, Fred Yengling, Roy Stone, Larry Gates and John Herrnstein, raised more than the $150,000 needed to put the plan into action.

“This is an exciting time to be a part of the Chillicothe Post 757 Colts,” Post 757 coach Tom Barr said. “I’m honored to be a part of this, and I get goose bumps thinking about some of the guys that are looking down with huge smiles on their faces. Guys like Jim Jadwin, Leo Woods, Dick Stewart and countless others who gave so much of their time to the youth of our community.”

DeVore, who has been with the Legion ball club since the day the field opened, couldn’t be more pleased with the lights.

“They are absolutely beautiful,” DeVore said. “Many people told me that we could never raise that type of money, but it didn’t matter. We reached out to people we thought would be willing to help or donate, and I didn’t have one person turn me down. This isn’t a field just for 757; this is a field for the community and our athletes. Back in 1970, Jim Jadwin and I put the first fence post down, and he said: ‘This would be a great place for a baseball field if we can get some lights.’ And 46 years later, we finally got them. We were all really happy and it’s such a wonderful sight to see.”

Rockhold, who has been with the club as a coach and dedicated member since 1971, understands the importance of the lights for those with baseball aspirations.

“A lot of people were amazed by the lights,” he said. “We kept the lights on for about an hour, and a lot of people came out just to see them. That couldn’t believe it. I grew up playing Legion ball in West Virginia, and I was fortunate to have lights and play 7-8 games a week back then. If you want to play college ball and in the major leagues, you have to learn how to play under the lights, and this is a great step in the right direction for us. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”

With the lights have officially been installed, Chillicothe now has three full-size baseball diamonds with light towers, along with VA Memorial Stadium and Balmer Field in the Yoctangee Park. Located in the southeast corner of Mary Lou Patton Park, within Chillicothe city limits, the committee believes the city and community can only benefit from the lights.

In a letter written by Herrnstein and Gates, they elaborated on how the lights will benefit the city and the influence DeVore and Rockhold have had on the Legion team over the years.

“Since the baseball is located on city property, the city and community will accrue the following: A $150,000 improvement to its recreation infrastructure, an additional source of pride on the east side of town, plus a projected two million dollar annual economic impact from planned baseball and softball tournaments. Even more importantly, another lighted field translates into substantially more scholarship opportunities for our surrounding area’s high school athletes; both male and female, which has always been our committee’s highest priority. Approximately 100 local athletes have earned baseball scholarships in the past and have gone on to play at the college level, with an impressive number of those players advancing in the professional ranks.”

DeVore and Rockhold have spent nearly 100 year combined volunteering with the youth of Ross County.

The Colts will play their first game under the lights next Saturday as part of a doubleheader against Portsmouth. The first game will start at 5 p.m., followed by a ceremony at 7:30 p.m., and then the night game with cap the night off.

“You can’t help but to be excited for Art,” Barr said. “He’s been the driving force behind Phase I of the Hoffman Restoration Project. We’ll now move on to Phase II, III and IV, but it will be very special for our kids and community when we finally light up Hoffman Field.”