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Azle’s baseball and softball booster clubs and former players are raising money for a hitting center that will benefit student athletes as well as honoring a former coach.
Plans to build the “Coach Mike Hardin Hitting Center” were formally introduced to Azle school board members at a Nov. 17 meeting.
A trio comprised of baseball booster club president Doug Leeper, softball booster club president Kevin Albers and Keith Hoover, a former board member and 1976 AHS grad who played for Hardin, asked the board’s blessing to pursue a hitting center they hope to have ready by next spring. The board unanimously approved the plan. The hitting center will include four complete covered batting cages to be used by baseball and softball teams for batting practice. The cages can also be used for pitching/catching practice and the nets can be pulled back for other training options as needed.
The hitting center will be built between the current softball and baseball fields, nestled in back between two large oak trees. The area will be lighted to show off the building and lighting will also be included inside the covered area. The porch will feature a sign honoring former AHS baseball coach Mike Hardin, who coached from 1974 until 1984. He passed away in 2004. Hoover said the hitting center will serve a vital role in the development of young athletes. “During bad weather, our athletes don’t have a place to hit, pitch, warm-up, etc. and this will now provide that place,” Hoover said. “I would bet we are one of the only districts around not to have a covered hitting center,” he said. “We have such a great location for our baseball and softball fields and there isn’t any reason we shouldn’t make this a great facility for our student athletes.” Hoover said the hitting center is also a great way to honor a coach who meant so much to so many young athletes in Azle. Hardin came to Azle at the beginning of the 1974-75 season, a job he learned of by visiting a local sporting goods store. In a retirement interview printed in the Azle News in 1984, Hardin called himself a “hard coach,” who “demanded perfection.” Under his tutelage, Azle baseball enjoyed considerable success. Hoover, an All-District centerfielder for Hardin in 1976, remembers the coach who spent countless hours preparing the new baseball field for play after it was first built. Until the outfield fence was completed in year two of the project, that meant chasing cows away as well. “Coach Hardin was the type of coach you want your student athlete to play for,” Hoover said. “He not only taught us the finer points of baseball – he was a baseball genius – but how to play with class and honor. He was quiet spoken but when he told you something you knew it was very important and you better learn from it.” Hardin was a “very honorable, sincere man” who always had time for his players – on and off the field,” Hoover said. Back in the 1984 interview, another former player, 1982 graduate Joe Boyd, said he learned more from Hardin “about the proverbial game of life than anyone else.” Hoover said he and a couple of the old “Hardin boys” – Mike Sanders and Terry Wolf (both ‘77 grads) – had been looking for a way to honor their old coach. “Over the years there just hasn’t been the opportunity or the right project,” he said. “When I caught wind of this project, we all thought this was perfect and his wife, Marsha, agreed when we asked for her blessing.” Leeper said the softball and baseball booster clubs are heading up the project. He said about $17,500 has already been raised. It will take an estimated $35,000 to complete the project. So far, fundraisers include the sale of wearable Azle Hornet items, doormats with the Azle Hornet logo on them and even selling Texas Rangers tickets. The Rangers have also agreed to give boosters some items to auction off as well. Monetary donations are what the booster clubs really need, Hoover said. Donations can be made out to AISD with the notation “Hardin Hitting Center” and can be mailed to Hoover at 11265 Allison Ave., Azle, Texas 76020. Donors can also contact Leeper (817-675-7776), Albers (817-526-1140) or Hoover (817-688-5761). “It’s my hope that the public and businesses will get behind this privately-funded project so we can complete it with all the necessary touches and equipment,” Hoover said. “Most districts have multi-functional buildings that all sports can use, but since we don’t have this we felt this would at least take care of a very pressing need for both softball and baseball.” And honor a special coach as well. |
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