TallTexan said:

---

I was at SFA in 2009-2011, and most of the baseball guys I had in class felt they had been misled with the promises of facilities that were soon to be built. Not sure how accurate it was, but that was the general perception.

---

Quote:

---

The proposed Bo Pilgrim Ballpark struck out at Tuesday's SFA board of regents meeting after university President Dr. Baker Pattillo recommended calling a halt to the project, due to a lack of funding.

"When we announced our fund-raising plans, I said that if the university did not have the minimum private funds in hand by January 2008, the project would be re-evaluated," Pattillo said. "Unfortunately, our fund-raising has not been as successful as our baseball team.

"Not only do we not have pledges for the 25 percent required by the state, we do not have a dedicated revenue stream to repay the costs for the other 75 percent of the project. I do not believe that we would get approval in Austin to issue the bonds, and I simply don't believe the project can go forward at this time."

Valerie Ertz, board of regents chairwoman, said the board fully supports Pattillo's decision.

"We accept this decision, knowing that Dr. Pattillo has given thoughtful consideration about the overall impact of this project on the university," Ertz said.

About 25 percent of the $14 estimated total cost, or $3.5 million, was to have been raised through private donations during the campaign, which began in November 2006 and ended in December 2007.

But only $1.94 million in gifts and pledges for the ballpark had been raised by the end of December, which was about $1.56 million short of the goal.

Pattillo said after consulting numerous individuals, including "people in Austin," he came to the conclusion that the project would not be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board because of the lack of "dedicated revenue."

"The athletic director (Robert Hill) will notify the coach, players and parents," Pattillo said.

Those who donated money to the ballpark, including Bo Pilgrim, the man for whom the proposed park would have been named and who pledged $1 million to the project, will also be contacted, thanked for their support and offered refunds, Pattillo said. He also said that "work will begin" to see what can be done to improve the fields that both the SFA baseball and softball teams currently use, which is the Nacogdoches City Complex on West Loop 224. If any donors decide they do not want a refund, their donations will be invested in the improvements of the current facility.

"At the time (the ballpark was approved) everyone felt like it would be successful," Pattillo said. " ... perhaps some time in the future."

While Pattillo did not exactly say when in the future the idea of constructing a university ballpark complex would be revisited, Andy Kesling, SFA executive director of marketing, said the focus now will be on improving the current facility that the team uses. Hill said he will also work with the city of Nacogdoches and a local baseball association to improve the existing facility.

"Obviously, anytime you have an ambitious project that you want to happen and then it doesn't, there's some disappointment to that," Hill said. "What we had, what we collected and what our goal was, we couldn't close the gap."

Before Pattillo made his recommendation, Terry Lehmann, a parent of an SFA baseball player, addressed the board during the public hearing segment of the meeting. She said one of the main reasons her son committed to play baseball at SFA was because he was told that a stadium would be built in two years. She also said that "false promises" were made to the baseball players to get them to commit to SFA.

"You (regents) can make a big step in the right direction by approving the ballpark," Lehmann said.

Lehmann said she met with Pattillo in November and that "he emphasized that he was not consulted before baseball was brought back (to the university in 2004)."

"That was a strong impression on how he felt about baseball," Lehmann said.

She also said that the fundraising responsibility was given to someone who had "no experience in fundraising."

Lehmann encouraged the regents to hire a fundraiser and begin building the ballpark with funds already raised.

After hearing Pattillo's recommendation, Lehmann said, "it would have been nice if they would have chosen to honor their commitments."

"SFA's integrity is at stake here," Lehmann said.

The SFA baseball program was dropped as a sport in 1995 and a women's soccer team was added, with the administration citing concerns of Title 9, a 1972 law that states that no person shall be excluded from participation based on gender.

Donnie Watson, SFA baseball coach, said when he was interviewed by SFA in the process of eventually becoming the head baseball coach, that it was with the understanding that the return of the sport would coincide with the process of building a new baseball complex.

With that in mind, Watson and his staff used the ballpark as one of their recruiting tools.

"That is what we sold (to recruits)," Watson said.

Now, the question is, "What message do we send out as a Division I program to potential recruits who want to play baseball at SFA?" Watson said.

"We still sell to them that (they've) got a great place to go to school, that Nacogdoches is a great community and our coaching staff can develop (them) into players (they) want to become," Watson said.

---