MOUNT VERNON — The Lady Jackets will open the 2026 softball campaign on April 8 on a newly renovated field, thanks to what became a legacy of love.
In 1977, the group 10CC released a song titled “The Things We Do For Love.” Richard Smith understands the concept very well.
His granddaughter, Keely Pollard, plays for the Mount Vernon High School girls’ softball team. Smith and former softball parent Chad Kennedy donated around 1,100 hours in the last nine months to renovate the softball facility.
Doing some quick math, that averages over 30 hours a week. At the going rate for skilled labor, the work alone could have set the school district back over $30,000.
“What an amazing man,” Head Coach Ryan Pentz said of Smith. “He lived at the field for the last nine months. He was out there in the cold, snow and rain volunteering his time. Chad Kennedy was with him a good majority of the time helping him.”
However, even with the lion’s share of the labor donated, Smith and Kennedy still needed materials.
The community responded.
Paynes Heating and Cooling donated the HVAC for the press box.
The Jackets Athletic Boosters, Mount Vernon City Schools, VFW of Mount Vernon, and the Friends and Family of Jackets Softball stepped up to make donations.
Veteran player Hailey Rudrick is pleased with the sweat equity provided by Smith and Kennedy.
“It is much nicer than what we had before,” Rudrick said.
A major overhaul of the Lady Jackets’ softball complex
The renovated softball complex includes new fences, bleachers, and a press box with a state-of-the-art sound system.
The men installed the headers and footers for the press box in June 2025. They contracted out the block work for the press box foundation, the concrete pads under the bleachers, and the electrical work.
They hauled in dirt and spread crushed red brick over the field.
“Some of the dirt was hauled in from Pennsylvania,” Smith said. “This is the same thing that is on pro ball fields.”
Pentz added, “We contracted with a company called Dura Edge. It’s the same product used at Huntington Park for the Columbus Clippers. The product is used on numerous college and professional fields.”
“We put the bleachers in in February. It was cold,” Smith recalled with a smile.
However, even an endeavor as noble as creating a nice place for high schoolers to play can get tangled up in red tape.
“We were slowed down a bit by the state approving the blueprints,” Smith explained.
“The state came out and inspected all of the work we did, and it passed every time,” he said with pride in his voice.
A lasting legacy
While resurfacing a playing field is usually a task for heavy equipment, this took some extra care at the Lady Jackets’ field.
In 2020, Pentz began a program in which he issues players a Legacy Coin in their freshman year. The coins remind the team of the question, “What legacy are you going to leave to the program, the school, to softball?”
After the seniors play their last game of the year, they bury the coins on the field.
“We were careful not to kick up any Legacy Coins. We just went down a little over an inch,” Smith said.
Pentz said the field work was done carefully and by design.
“We wanted to make sure none of the coins were destroyed in the renovation process,” he said.
Last season, the players wore T-shirts with the word “Legacy” emblazoned on the back.
As fans pull into the newly renovated complex, they see “Legacy Field” prominently displayed on the back of the press box.
Although Smith had his granddaughter in mind as he worked in weather that ranged from unbearably hot to freezing cold, the retired corrections officer was also looking far ahead.
Between pitches at the Lady Jackets’ March 20 scrimmage, Smith repeated to himself, “What we did, it was all for the kids.”
“A lot of kids are going to play on this field, now and in the future,” he said.
(Below are photos of the renovation in progress courtesy of Richard Smith.)
