The Pilot Point High School Varsity Baseball Field unveiled its new scoreboard located behind the right field wall July 1.
The scoreboard was installed June 20, and the team behind the new addition, spearheaded by Pilot Point ISD parent Greg Evans and sponsored by Point-Bank, gathered to commemorate the moment and offer insight into how it all came together.
“Going into the season, we’re doing upgrades, and the [baseball] field is looking better, and I thought, ‘Let me see what I can do,’ and I reached out to PointBank about a sponsorship,” Evans said. “We designed the new scoreboard, PointBank accepted the bid, and we went through the protocol with Dr. [Shannon] Fuller, the superintendent for Pilot Point ISD. It took a little bit of work, … [but] we got a new board.”
The Bearcats baseball field’s previous scoreboard was acquired from the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers’ softball program 15 years ago by former Pilot Point coach Rob Best and the PPISD maintenance team.
The new 20-foot, matte black scoreboard was installed by Olen Williams Incorporated in Euless and features a sponsorship sign at the top, featuring the PointBank logo bookended by matching orange and black Bearcat logos.
The new scoreboard also has wireless controls and uses light-emitting diodes, which are more energy efficient and longer lasting than the incandescent light bulbs used in the previous generation of scoreboards.
“PointBank is always interested in sponsoring the scoreboards here in town,” PointBank Commercial Lender Greg Pelzel said. “We believe in backing the community and the school. That's very important to us, so when [Greg] reached out, we got him in contact with the CEO of Point-Bank, Raymond David, and then Raymond took care of all of it.”
PointBank Vice President and Branch Manager Lisa Cave said PointBank is proud to show their commitment to Pilot Point ISD any way they can.
“We always want to do whatever we can to sponsor the schools and the ISD,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of different things as far as sponsorships for new teachers, and it’s really important to us to have our name out here to show our support for them because we strongly believe in the sports program here in Pilot Point ISD.”
Bearcats’ baseball coaching mentor Terry Wolf said the program is honored by the gift from the community. “It's just so fascinating for me to see community support like this,” he said. “For PointBank to do something like this that is going to greatly enhance the beauty of our field, because our field is going nowhere but up with the improvements that we've done over the last year, having this just adds to it. The players definitely notice it, and they definitely appreciate it.”
Pilot Point Director of Human Resources and Communications Valerie Wall spoke on behalf of PPISD and echoed Coach Wolf’s sentiments.
“This adds a more professional look to our field, and it gives the students something to be proud of,” she said. “It really shows the partnership between our community and our local businesses, and while our students mean so much to us as a district and teachers, it also shows that the students mean a lot to our community members as well.”
With the upgrades to the field and the full backing of the Pilot Point administration and community, things are looking up for Bearcats’ baseball.
“We've already gotten compliments,” Evans said. “… You drive down Liberty Street, and people recognize those things. What does that represent to me? That represents our school district and every kid that's coming up, and hopefully they’ll think, ‘Hey, look. They’re doing something for us.’ It's not all about sports; grades come first, but it all [connects] back to our ISD.”
