Built from the ground up
JPS opens baseball, softball fields at Hardy-Hughes complex
Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees echoed a similar cadence throughout the Hardy-Hughes athletic complex about JPSD wanting to give back to its student-athletes.
On Friday, the Jackson Public School District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and officially opened up its new baseball and softball fields.
In 2018, Jackson residents voted for a $65 million bond referendum to improve schools and athletic facilities, of which $5.7 million was put into the development of the new complex.
The $5.7 million dollars spent on the construction saw a project built from the ground up, including natural grass, an irrigation system, batting cages, bullpens, spectator seating, fenced dugouts, scoreboards and field lighting at both fields.
“The addition of these facilities not only elevates the athletic programs within the district but also serves as a focal point for community pride and involvement,” JPS Superintendent Errick Greene said.
The fields support all JPS high school baseball and softball teams year-round, and the 2024 season saw its debut for baseball and softball seasons. The high schools include Callaway, Forest Hill, Jim Hill, Lanier, Murrah, Provine and Wingfield.
“It’s been a
great
opportunity,”
Kaycelyn Jones said. Jones played on the softball team at Jim Hill and described the team’s old facilities as like playing on concrete. “I know we’re out here about every day utilizing the cages and the field. It’s just a great opportunity.”
It’s the second milestone that the JPS board has for the Hardy-Hughes
athletic complex, which has other goals, such as adding more facilities for indoor sports.
The two fields add to a complex that began with a renovation of the HardyHughes football stadium and track and field completed in 2023, which was a part of the 2018 bond. It added a new paved parking lot, ticket booth, concession stand and restrooms.
“On behalf of baseball and softball players, we are very thankful for this field,” said Kenderrius Carter, who plays baseball at Forest Hill. “We are very thankful for practices and playing the games we have in the city. On behalf of us all, we are very thankful and want to say thank you to the people who helped develop and build this field.”
Hardy-Hughes Field was scheduled to host one first-round playoff game on Saturday as Jim Hill baseball faced George County in its three-game series in the MHSAA Class 6A state playoffs, which started on Friday.
A found interest in Jackson with baseball and softball
In 2018, JPS’ bond referendum focused heavily on upgrading athletic facilities, one of which was a newly constructed baseball and softball field.
Greene has seen interest in these two sports grow over time among schools, teams and athletes. So, Greene thought, why not expand the complex and add facilities to help improve play and attention?
“There’s an interest,” Greene said. “We’ve got lots of scholars who are involved in are interested in baseball and softball. We’ve got teams that have been competitive, but we want to help them to be more competitive, locally and across the state and perhaps even beyond.”
Executive Director of Athletics at JPS Daryl Jones knows baseball and softball are not the first sports many kids choose to play, but he sees the community starting to find an interest and is happy to see the facilities getting used every night.
“Baseball and softball is really not a sport that’s been, I guess glorified in our communities,” Jones said. “So what we want to do is bring it back to our communities and make sure that we expose our scholar-athletes to baseball and softball with good coaching and good fundamentals of the game so they can kind of grow and hopefully grow their scholarship potential.”
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the ClarionLedger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez .