Walk-out songs are so yesterday for Ridgeland High School baseball players. Walk-out videos? Now that's the way the Panthers roll, and it's just part of the school's new fan-friendly, student-learning experience during games at Jay Smith Field.
Using a combination of business donations and student and alumni labor, The Ballpark at Ridgeland -- always rated among Georgia's best high school fields -- has ascended to a new level. Among other things, fans are greeted with four video monitors hung on the backstop that show student-produced videos of each player, advertisements, announcements and even a video to accompany the national anthem.
Each row of the reserved section -- for $100, a fan gets a ticket to each game, a drink and either pizza or a hot dog -- also has large patio-type propane heaters that also serve as tables. Those fans can order their concessions right from their seats by holding up a sign. A Panther Girl will take the order and deliver it.
There's more, including the free live-streaming of video from each Ridgeland game (home and away on thecube.com), and the use of a radar gun to show pitch speeds on the video monitors. The Walker County Sheriff's Department is donating eight used radar guns that will be used in the team's practice facility as a teaching tool.
Panthers coach Scott Harden has been blown away with compliments from friends and foes.
"The whole thing is just different than anything I've seen," Harden said. "People from other schools come in here and are speechless, and I've had several coaches ask me where we got the ideas or how much did it cost.
"We've spent less than $1,000 on the entire project, and we've done all the work ourselves or alumni have volunteered their time. The kids are loving it. Everybody wants to come make videos. The great thing is it's the whole community and our school working together."
Tucker Holdbrooks was one of those who worked on the project. The outfielder, as part of his senior project, helped with the electrical work, combined with teammate Chandler Nabors to build the sturdy boxes that house the video monitors and worked with teammate Tyler Heisey -- Jay Smith's grandson -- on the music videos. Holdbrooks, like his coach, takes great pride in the park and the fact it will be a legacy to this year's team.
"I'm very happy with it," said Holdbrooks, who helped come up with the video monitor idea one day while chatting with Harden. "I like being able to go there and know that I helped contribute to letting people have a good experience at our field. It's kind of like professional experience. We're not there yet, but that's what I like to think it can be. I look at it and I get to say at least I contributed to something nice that will be around for a good while."
Former Ridgeland player Jeremy Stiefel coordinated all the electrical work, the most difficult piece of the renovation, according to Harden. Video and electrical cables had to be run so they weren't noticeable, which meant installing them from the power source, over the backstop and onto the video boards or one of the eight cameras mounted around the field.
Ridgeland High School has made several upgrades to their baseball stadium, including new heaters, and video monitors.Those cameras serve as both the source of current and future video streaming as well as top-of-the-line security surveillance.
"We're going to have multiple views with the eight cameras," Harden said. "The fans here can watch those different views on the video monitors. It cost us $250 and all it is is a video surveillance system, and when we're not here it serves as our security system. It's got night vision and with any movement it starts recording. It then sends me a text and I can immediately view the field on my phone."
Currently the games are streamed online with either one or three camera views. In the future Harden says a complete production will be put together by students, including directors and announcers.
"We want to put a production together like you would watch on ESPN," Harden said. "It's so cool and it also will help get these kids' jobs because they're getting training. They're learning and they're having fun doing it."
One part of the renovation will have to wait, however. A new scoreboard was in the works, but the plans were halted when Coca-Cola's Robert Hitchcock, who was heading the project, died unexpectedly. Harden said the hope is to have a scoreboard with a mini jumbotron video board up by next season.
Since its opening, the park always has been a source of pride for the school and community, having won several awards, including multiple Field of the Year awards in Georgia. This work, Harden says, will put it in a league of its own.
"That's the legacy here and it started with Jay Smith, our first coach," Harden said of Smith, who died of cancer in 1999. "We've always been a first-class facility and been ahead of the game, and now this puts us back ahead. People had started to catch up with us, so we have to keep pushing forward.
"There's history with every part of this stadium, including the turf, which was the original turf at Engel Stadium. The backstop padding is from Turner Field. This whole thing was Jay's vision, but he unfortunately never got the chance to enjoy it."
While Ridgeland fans were the obvious beneficiary of the upgrades, the players have become so fond of the park that Harden often had to make them go home during the summer after a night spent doing what they enjoy most -- playing baseball and socializing.
"The kids get bored during the summer, so they often came up here and did some hitting, ate popcorn and sat in the stands and watched movies on the new video boards," he laughed. "I would much rather them be up here together than maybe out getting into things they shouldn't. It's really promoted a team atmosphere, and it's something they will always share."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.