Opening Day: Lynn Haven Plays Ball!

Opening Day has returned to the ballfields of Lynn Haven. In this first episode of Haven444, we visit the park to hear from the people who make youth baseball part of the heartbeat of the community—from coaches and young players to families cheering from the stands.

In Lynn Haven, the crack of the bat and the cheers from the stands signal more than the start of a new baseball season. They mark the return of a tradition that brings families, neighbors, and generations together at the ball field.

From the growth of the league to the memories made, Opening Day reminds us that sometimes the stories of a town are found in the simple rhythm of a game.

Haven444 is a community storytelling podcast about the moments, memories, and voices that shape Lynn Haven.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Haven 444, a podcast about the people, places, and stories that shape our community and make this small city by the bay the place that over 20,000 people call home. In this week's episode, we are going to celebrate the great American pastime of baseball. We're going to be hanging out at the baseball fields, talking a little bit about what baseball means to this community and how the neighbors, parents, coaches, grandparents, kids all find their place right there on those fields. In Lynnhaven, baseball is more than a pastime. It's part of the rhythm of our community. You'll find the families gathered along the fence line, coaches working with the young players in the dugout, and kids stepping up to the plate under the lights. Sometimes for the first time. And sometimes they get that moment that they'll never forget. Over the years, Lynhaven has built a reputation as one of the best places in the region for youth baseball. But the story of this league is also a story of resilience. After Hurricane Michael changed so much in our community, the league began rebuilding season by season, team by team. And what was once counted as a few hundred players has now grown to more than 1,300 kids and coaches, filling these fields with energy and possibility once again. And today baseball here isn't just a game, it's something of a community. Flex, if you will, a point of pride for families who know these fields and are helping raise the next generation. We chatted with Justin, the city's director of sports and recreation, just a little bit about what makes Lynhaven baseball so special.

SPEAKER_04 2:13

Probably the second season at Kane Griffin Park, newly opened, renovated park. Sports Complex wasn't even built yet. So they were in the process of building sports complex. And we had about 350, 400 kids in the program, which was a great fit for Kane Griffin, only four fields. But I came in with an attitude of wanting to shift things and make it a little more competitive. There's always a big talk about recreational ball versus travel ball and which one is better, and is there competition in recreational ball? So I wanted to try to blend some of that aspect into what we do at Land Haven. So we were a little more aggressive with the rules in six you, which they call T-ball. Now we call it six you coach pitch. You're not hitting off the T anymore. The coach is throwing, we cut on the scoreboard now. A kid makes a magnificent play and they get out, you're actually out. So you learn the game at a faster rate. And I think just the competitiveness of all of our parents, because this is a baseball community, it just trying to grew our league. And I feel as though our six you and I ate you is the backbone of our league. If you can keep a lot of kids and six you and eight you, they're gonna flourish and stay in your league in the long run. Mosley has always been on top, won a couple state championships, great coaches. I have a great relationship with Mosley. But in this area, we have always been the baseball, the lead for the county, I should say. Won a couple World Series here in Lynhaven. So it shows and speaks to the talent that we have within our league. Actually, last year, our 10U softball girls won the Disney Dean World Series. So brought her home after Len Haven. That's the aspect of Len Haven. That's what's so great about Lynn Haven, right? When you come out to the ball fields, you're gonna see kids with chalk, but everybody's having fun. Moms are talking to moms, dads are chatting with the dads. So it's a family fun event when you're out here at the ballpark. Teamwork and resilience. It's not always gonna go your way. Everyone wants to swing big, hit the home run. Sometimes you strike out, sometimes they throw you out, but you gotta try again. So it's great to see these kids develop and grow from six youth to almost a pouting and whining when they get out, to it's okay, we're gonna be better the next time. So definitely growth, and then I would say relationships, the teamwork. Some of these kids, this is who they're gonna be chilling with when they're 18 years old. These are gonna be some of their best friends later in life. I like that about the sport also.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Relationships, neighbors, community. Yeah, I would say there's quite a theme going on here. And as you can tell, Justin has been the right person to shepherd this league to where it is today.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

I have been coaching now for gosh, it's probably been five years. I've got a uh I've been coaching coaching my older son, uh, and then now I've got my younger son here for a couple seasons now. I grew up playing baseball as a kid. We used to play at uh parks here in town, and uh grew up, honestly, I'm coaching with a lot of the guys that I used to play with, and uh we are kind of now passing on things that that their dads and our dads taught us. We're passing that on to uh being our kids now. And uh I just enjoy spending nights at the ballpark. I mean, I'm out here probably four nights a week plus some weekends, so uh my my life is spent at the ballpark. We're teaching these kids the meaning of being on being part of a team and being, you know, the shared responsibility. It's not always about them, it's there's a there's a bigger picture. Um and you know, we we try to uh yeah, I just think I think these kids are um just they're learning a lot of life lessons out here at the ball field. We're just doing it through baseball, you know, and and doing it through sport. Honestly, these kids love it. I mean, I grew up, when I grew up, I used to look forward to opening day and all the activities and the bounce houses and the snow cones and the cotton candy and popcorn and all that stuff, and and just bringing all the teams together to celebrate, you know, baseball. And and uh and it's and it's a lot of fun, you know. The major major league makes a big deal of opening day, and and these kids watch, you know, see that stuff, and then they get to have their own opening day. Um and so I think it just means means the world, and there's a ton, you know, going on. Lynnhaven does it right. You know, they get everybody out here and and uh they got beautiful facilities, and man, it's hard to beat uh the sound of uh the baseball off the bat. So you know I mean I I I love I love defense and and I love uh where you know the pop of the mitt where pitcher's throwing hard hits popping the catcher's mitt, but there's just nothing that beats the sound of a of a bat that hits the ball hard and is is just smashed. I mean it just it's great. I loved playing as a kid, but I have more fun coaching these kids and seeing the joy that they have in any given game. It doesn't matter what game it is, I just enjoy seeing the smile on their face when they do well and they succeed, and the joy that they have when they celebrate with their teammates. Um so so I would say in general, coaching in general has been better for me than than any game I ever played. Um but but in particular I love close games where the kids have to battle. I don't like you know one-sided games, lopsided games. I love when there's a back and forth and every the crowd gets into it and the fans get into it. Like those are my favorite games. So there's been there's been several of those and I enjoy those a lot. So I just hope that they are creating a love for the game. But you know, honestly, like I just hope that their love of the game is still there. You know, I hope that they look back on this and they have the same memories that I had coaching with with their dads, you know, or playing with their dads. And I hope that they have those same memories, you know, 10 years from now and honestly just love the game, um, whether they're playing or not. That they just they fall in love with it, they love watching it, you know. I no longer play, uh, but I still love the game, you know, just as I did whenever I played.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

We love that coach Michael Dupree was playing with those same guys when he was a kid in Little League that he's coaching with now. And that as much as he loved playing, coaching means more to him. And he's a part of our community that is imparting wisdom and tradition into the next generation to carry that forward. And sometimes we lose sight of that in the middle of the noise and everything going on around us that can distract us from the very good that's sleeping right within our own neighborhood. All we have to do is kind of turn our eyes and look in that direction. Just throw in some shoes, go to the ball field, hang out in the evenings, watch the kids play, listen to the grandparents cheer, and the coach's coach. It kind of rebuilds your faith in your community. And we all need that. Haven 444 caught up with Brett Lowry, an all-star player, sharp young man who is willing to share a little bit about his memories of when he first started playing eight years ago. When he was three.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

When I was playing T Bowl and I got face paint before my game, and I had red face paint, and after the game, all my red was dripping down. I got cheeseburger from the championship when we won the game uh to get ring. Uh when I played tenu and uh then I went into the whole stores. My dad coached all of us. Uh everyone's there and they uh we're all just having fun and uh gang into a new start of baseball and uh get the feel of baseball and how it really is.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Oh yes, and we asked Brett what was his favorite moment of all of his many years of playing. When I caught the winning uh catch team win the And we could not let the day get away without speaking to one of the proud grandparents of the many who were there. This is Ben Sass being just a little brackalicious, and he deserves it. We're so happy that the Lynnhaven Sports Complex and the great work that Justin has done has carried itself out into the community in such a way it has made a place for us to come together and celebrate the moments that we share.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

I'm actually out here watching two of my grandsons play. Uh, they're on the hammerheads. They actually started in T-ball back up in the uh Lynn Haven Rec League up in the other field. And they they've uh been on the same team, and my uh son-in-law is the coach, and so they've been playing together for the last five years. I I think that uh no matter the athletic ability of the child, they try to make sure every kid gets a place to play and gets an opportunity to play, at least give it a try and see if that's what they want to do. Probably their first catch or their first hit, and it was a surprise to them because they were swinging and trying so hard, or they just threw their glove out there and they caught it and and and and the whole team comes running in to congratulate them, not realizing they're still runners. They just get it really super excited and did something well. I played uh little league all the way up through high school in baseball. When I was in baseball, I played left field.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

So here we are in the small city by the bay of 20,000 plus. And these fields have become our gathering space, one of them. Not just for games, but for friendships and traditions and memories that shape our community. Season after season, another group of kids pulls on a jersey, steps onto the field, and becomes a part of the story. This continuing unfolding story. This is Haven four four four. Our city, our city, our city, our city, our city, our story.