CHS Hornets celebrate ribbon cutting for their ‘Field of Dreams’
The Cook High School Hornets baseball program enjoyed a great turnout from the community at the Tuesday, April 18, 2023, ribbon cutting for the new CHS Baseball Complex.
Hornet Baseball thanked everyone who attended and special guest speakers at the ceremony.
CHS Principal Dr. Joi Williams welcomed everyone and introduced special guests. Cook County Board of Education Member Brenda Moore gave the invocation.
Walter Altman, president of Altman and Barrett Architects that helped design the facilities, and Lyndy Jones, president of JCI Contractors that built the facilities, made remarks. Construction of the new baseball complex and other major up-to-date Hornet athletic facilities was made possible by the community’s support of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).
Board of Education Vice Chair Chad Sumner encouraged the baseball players and the community with words of wisdom.
CHS Hornets Head Coach Rusty Beale thanked everyone who played a role in making the construction of the facilities a reality. Coach Beale and the rest of the coaching staff have done a wonderful job with this group of Hornet players and have led them to the state playoffs.
Heather Green, president of the Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerce, spoke on behalf of the Chamber and praised the athletic project’s success.
Dr. Tim Dixon, Superintendent of Cook County Schools, reflected on the inspirational 1989 movie “Field of Dreams,” starring Kevin Costner, and drew parallels to Cook High’s own Field of Dreams with the new Hornets’ Nest.
Dr. Dixon recognized each Hornet baseball player by name. He also thanked the team for their community service in helping out with the cleanup following the tornado that recently hit Adel.
Dr. Dixon challenged the Hornets to bring the state playoff games back to Cook.
Later in the day, the Hornets celebrated Senior Night and beat Sumter 15-4. Brooks Moore hit the first homer by a Hornet on the new field. The Hornets next faced Sumter in a doubleheader in Americus. The Hornets defeated Sumter 9-1 and 21-0. The sweep meant that Cook became #2 seed in Region 1-AA.
The Hornets then hosted Jordan High School in the first round of the state playoffs on Monday. Cook beat Jordan in the doubleheader 11-1 and 14-2. The Hornets will advance to the Sweet 16 state playoffs. The second round game details will be announced. (Please see complete coverage of the Hornet games on the Sports page.)
During the baseball complex ribbon cutting, Dr. Dixon also recognized Thomas Dickerson for all of his hard work keeping the fields looking amazing.
