Cheyenne Wells – Materially, it’s a rectangular metal box with wires, lights and a price of about $5,500 (poles excluded).
Emotionally, it wasn’t for sale for any amount after Tuesday, because its value was too high and will continue to soar (tears included).
“I had a boo-hoo morning, but now I’m OK,” said Cindy Eden as she watched her family and eastern Colorado townsfolk spill over from the modest baseball bleachers at the local fairgrounds to honor her son, J.D., a former catcher and sophomore three- sport athlete at Cheyenne Wells High School who died from injuries suffered in an accident in November. A van carrying him and teammates veered off a country road at night.
It also was after she watched her husband, Bruce, receive a ceremonial first pitch from younger son Cody as part of the festivities. The delivery, from full windup on the mound by the 14-year-old eighth-grader on one of the region’s breezy, temperature- changing afternoons in early spring, was a little low, but universally acknowledged as a strike without a hint of argument.
“It felt pretty good,” Cody Eden said of firing a fastball at his feelings.
Never mind the first official entry to the J.D. Eden Memorial scoreboard was provided by Manzanola’s Jacob Ferritto, who ripped Cheyenne Wells’ first pitch of the season over the fence in center field for a home run. And forget the scoreboard’s first final tally indicated Manzanola defeated the host Tigers 15-3 in Class 1A nonleague on Tuesday.
“It was tough, but you just have to go out there and try your hardest and go for the best,” Tigers first baseman Kellen Sramek said.
“I know it was hard for them,” Manzanola coach Steve Bauserman said.
The numbers that really count involve dollars raised toward redoing two of the three fields on the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds, featured by a proper baseball diamond in J.D. Eden’s name. The family and area’s followers of the game Eden loved most have pledged $40,000, the total required to apply for a grant involving state lottery funds for a Field of Dreams project totaling $301,000.
“We feel really good about it,” Cindy Eden said.
And they wear it. Family members and friends not only sported caps, wristbands and shirts with a picture of J.D. (Jack Daniel, named after his grandfathers and, yes, some referred to him as “Whiskey”) and his favorite playing number (25), but tattoos abounded, including on the lower left leg of former Cheyenne Wells player Mike Kennedy.
“It’s a way to remember him,” Kennedy said. “He was a great kid.”
The mayor of Cheyenne Wells, Monte Baker, did the announcing and fans included county sheriffs to students to folks who live just down the road.
“We were real close and I think about (J.D.) every day,” Tigers sophomore right fielder Casey Hyle said.
Some of the shock may have worn off through time, Sramek said, “but (J.D.) is always with us in our hearts.”
That’s the thing about living in a small town of farmers and ranchers, Cheyenne Wells principal and athletic director Mike Miller said: “Everybody knows your business, but when something happens they’re there to help.”
The Edens recently changed homes because going to the basement in their previous house proved too gut- wrenching and was an area everyone seemed to avoid.
“J.D.’s room was down there,” Cindy Eden said.
Soon, J.D.’s new room of sorts could be a reality. If materials are available for purchase through funds, enough labor and equipment are on stand-by, Cindy Eden said, to complete a project that would combine two smaller fields into one of regulation and with full amenities by late summer.
Cheyenne Wells, which has 69 students in grades 9-12, sorely needs it. Coached by Brian Campbell, J.D.’s brother-in-law in an extended family, the Tigers dressed 14 players, including two girls, for their opener and played with passion on the best of the grounds’ fields as if it was Fenway Park.
However, the skinned infield contains enough pebbles to build a small dam. Multiple players have ripped open their pants – and hips and legs – by sliding on it and two throws from the outfield Tuesday took wild hops toward the direction of the plate. As for the outfield, it can’t approach more than 280 feet in right and center fields because temporary fencing that rims them also borders the entry road to the fairgrounds.
Locals know hitting the road from the field doesn’t take a long shot.
They’d rather take the long shot for their field to hit the road.
“I only hope we can get something to get the program back up,” Sramek said. “It would be for J.D.”
Neil Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
