Improvements done just in time for the baseball season
By Kyle LoJacono
B.E. Smith played on what is now John F. Clements Field at Zephyrhills High and thanks to his efforts the current Bulldogs squad will have well-kept turf for the season.
A few weeks ago he decided to step in and improve the field he once played on just in time for the start of the baseball season. He and the crew from Silverado Golf & Country Club, 36841 Clubhouse Drive in Zephyrhills, trimmed some trees, cut out a new infield and laid down new gravel from left to right field along the infield.

“My mother (Tillie Reutimann) graduated from Zephyrhills in 1928 and I have grandkids there now, so I wanted to put something back into the school,” Smith said.
The labor took about three days and the materials cost about $800. Smith said a crew of four or five guys, including Silverado’s superintendent of the golf course Jeff Sweet, went to the school after a full day of work to do the job.
“It takes a lot of that gravel to make a level warning track 14-feet-wide like we have,” said first-year Zephyrhills coach Rickey Anderton. “It looks very good now. Three or four of the kids said to me now we feel like pros with this field.”
The improvements were done in time for the Bulldogs first game Feb. 15.
Smith and the Silverado crew are also working to build level batting cages for the Bulldogs.
“He worked so hard and didn’t ask for anything,” Anderton said. “He’s always helping us. He said we can use the banquet hall at Silverado at the end of the year for our awards. He really takes care of the kids.
Smith, who graduated from Zephyrhills in 1958, was a right-handed pitcher and shortstop for the Bulldogs. He said baseball was always his favorite sport.
“I go to a lot of the practices and I hope to get to all of the home games,” Smith said.
Smith is not done with helping the baseball team.
“This is a long-term project,” Smith said. “One thing I would like to do is make the infield from first to third base clay instead of grass like it is now. Some of the players tell me they catch their spikes when running and I think it will just look better with a clay infield. ”
Anderton said he still cannot believe how much Smith does for the program.
“Anything we need he just does without having to be asked,” Anderton said. “He doesn’t ask even for a thank you. He gives his time and his money to help us and we are very lucky to have someone like him who loves his community so much.”
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