League Sports Teams

League Sports Teams

Kinmundy and Alma, Illinois

We are looking for photos of people and/or places from around Kinmundy & Alma. Can you help?

Or maybe you have stories or memories from the "Good Old Days"? What do YOU remember?

The Kinmundy Historical Society would be honored to preserve your memories and stories. We also have the

equipment to scan (or copy) your photos so that they may be enjoyed now as well as for generations yet to come!

We would love to hear from you! For more information, please contact:

Dolores (Ford) Mobley – Dolores@ford-mobley.com

208 Joan Dr.; Divernon, IL 62530; (217) 625-7527

Gladys (Corrie) See – gsee49@yahoo.com

408 S. Washington St.; Kinmundy, IL 62854; (618) 547-7731

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FRONT: Harry Smith, J.E. “Whoopy” McMackin with his son Gene, _____________________, Glen Lee

(OB-9) (Possibly) Ed or Claude Rainey up to bat in a game with Kinmundy on July 4, 1906.

Kinmundy High School baseball team. 2nd from left Xon Harlan. (Xon was born Hard to make out the other names.

Back of the post card reads: "Am playing ball now. Played Centralia Sat. Got beat, expect to win next Sat. Xon."

Back row: Gene Green, Lee Smith, Tim Harmon, Elmer Kirkwood, Roy Smith, Fielding Adams, Grover Roop, Herman Keistler, Buddy McKinney.

Front row: Russell Green, Dutch Shreffler, Frank Johnson, Nick O'Neal, Shorty Marshall, James Wassen, Charles DuBois

Back Row: Beck Jenkins, Howard Robb, Sterling "Sully" Sullivan, Charles Kline, Ralph "Pug" Jenkins, Earl "Buddy" Brimberry

Front row: Dick Gray, Howard Robb, Pug Jenkins, Chuck Kline, Lyle Green, Bob Johnson, Manager - Lloyd Bailey

Back row: Gale Jamison, Steve Jones, Beryl Keen - Manager; Bryce Geiler, Virgil Uphold, Howie Roth - umpire, Don Henken;

Mrs. Peggy McElroy & Paul Henken - with the trophy from the Alma's Men's Softball 1st place trophy

Middle row: Rich Millican, John Harvey, Dennis Hiestand, Reed Garrett, Bill Soldner, Rex Garrett, Butch Keen

Front row: Richard Day, Joe Middleton, Ernie Hanks, Brad Brasel, Steve Hanna, Bob Brasel

Back row: Charles Owens, Bill Soldner, Scott Robb, Rex Garrett, Gary Jenkins, John Heicher, Rick Deadmond

The year was 1946. Our fighting men had come home from the war, were getting jobs, starting families, and looking for some fun for a change. Thus an Independent Baseball Team was started in Kinmundy and nearby towns, i.e. Salem, Centralia, Farina, Patoka, Louisville, Odin, Sandoval, etc. Lloyd Bailey rounded up some of the guys he knew loved baseball and they organized the Kinmundy team. The original lineup was:

They started the season playing on the diamond at the high school, but due to complications (too many balls hitting the gym or going over the railroad track), the school board determined they could no longer use the diamond – so – there was a cornfield (which didn’t grow much corn) located on Route 37. The owner (Buck Miller) was approached to see if it could be used to build a ball diamond. The deal was made to rent the land for $15.00 and the guys got together to make their own diamond with the attitude “If you build it, they will come.” First, Gene Bailey took the tractor over and plowed and disc the ground, getting rid of weeds and corn stubble. Then Cecil Bailey made a drag out of railroad ties and they worked on it until it was almost smooth. Cecil and Lloyd brought home some oil field pipe and chicken wire and the team made a backstop. A collection was taken up at each game to guy equipment, pay rent, and eventually they were able to buy uniforms. Kinmundy had a VERY good ball club, and regularly defeated their opponents. They also had a huge following. Many times cars were lined up on both sides of the highway from the curve to the Bailey house, by the crowd that came to see them play.

Soon after the men began their season, the ladies formed an independent softball league, and they too played on the “new diamond”, and eventually the High School began playing there.

Later, the Lion’s Club bought the property and spruced up the old diamond, adding lights, bleachers, a real backstop, dugouts, a concession stand, etc., and it has evolved into one of the nicer ball parks in southern Illinois. But it all started in a cornfield, by Cecil Bailey and a bunch of guys who loved the game of baseball!

"My husband, Herbert Vandeveer, enjoyed sports and was always interested in working with the youth so decided to investigate to see if he could start a Little League ball club which consisted of four or five teams. I can’t remember which. We named them Red – White – Blue –Green. They wore tee shirts of their team’s color.

Using our tractor and other machinery, we made a ball diamond at the Grade School at the east edge of town. He was the manager and umpire, and I was the scorekeeper. The moles kept making tunnels under the ground ruining the ball diamond. He spent several days around 11:00 o’clock quietly sitting on a folding chair as that’s when they would make their tunnels searching for grub worms. When they’d start making their tunnels, he’d quietly slip up and shove a spade in the ground behind them and dig them out. When they got in the daylight, they couldn’t see and were easy to catch. Lois Alderson, one of the cooks at the Grade School, kept wondering what he was doing out in the middle of the field sitting on a chair not moving—just sitting there. It probably did look odd to see a farmer in the middle of the morning sitting quietly on a folding chair as though he didn’t have a worry in the world. When she saw him, she asked what he was doing. Said curiosity got the best of her.

We played on that diamond a few years. The Little League ball games were so successful it was decided to make a bigger and nicer one west of town along Route 37.

Herbert spent many a day and many a week using our tractor, disk, harrow, drag and bush hog mower making a smooth and level ball diamond, also keeping the outfield mowed all summer. He used the tractor posthole digger digging all the holes for the light poles and setting the poles in the ground. He then had the local welder, Don Rogerson, make a long iron rod around 40 feet or longer with a bucket on the end which we attached to the front of the tractor. Jim Davis climbed into the bucket, the one man brave enough to do so. Herbert, on the tractor, lifted Jim up to each pole and put light bulbs into each socket. Cecil Harvey also helped a lot, as did a few others.

Instead of it being just the boys of Kinmundy, like at the first ball diamond east of town, different teams from surrounding towns played against the Kinmundy boys. Herbert was also manager and umpire at the new diamond. When necessary, he’d use the tractor and drag to smooth the diamond again.

He thoroughly enjoyed working with the youth teaching them good sportsmanship whether they won or lost. The boys all respected him and were so interested in learning how to get along with everyone while enjoying a good clean sport. He loved each one in their different abilities while watching them grow. He was the manager for several years.

The town stood behind the boys cheering them on. We always had a good turn out at each game, and everyone enjoyed watching and visiting with one another."

"Friday afternoon the Kinmundy Lions club acquired approximately six acres of land on which to build our lighted Baseball Park. This land, which lies north of the Chow-Now Cafe, and south and east of route 37, was purchased from O.K. Miller on contract for $1,500. A down payment of $500 was made with $100 per year to be paid (interest free) for the next ten years. All of this $1,500 is to come from Lions Club funds. Money collected from donations of organizations and individuals is in a separate fund to pay for the equipment. We wish to thanks the Kinmundy PTA, Woman's Club, Jr. Woman's Club, Home Bureau, for their contributions.

We, the Ballpark Committee, are sure that when this ballpark is completed, it will be a thing of beauty and a source of pride to all iin our city, even to those who are not baseball fans.

The Little League and Pony League will start play under lights by June 1 and one Tuesday night, June 12, we will have a benefit game for the little league starring the Illinois State A.A.U. Softball Champtions, the Decature Alyco Merchants versus the Missouri State Champions.

If we are going to open on schedule - and we are - we will have to work hard and fast. We need money and/or physical help. In the next two months we shall cut and burn brush, dig a drainage ditch and set tile, plow, level, seed and roll the playing field, construct backstop, bleachers, scoreboard, fences, players benches, concession stand, and put up poles, lights and wiring. Many people have pledge their money or time. What we are trying to hint is that NOW is the time. See you Friday, April 6, at the Harlem Magicians ballgame, Fish Fry at High School cafeteria from 4 p.m. until game time sponsored by little league parents - all funds go toward the ball park.

"James Davis came to Kinmundy to live with his mother, Mrs. Bertha Davis, from Chicago. (Their home was the one now owned by Reed and Cindy Garrett.) From the day Jim came to town he became one of one of most outstanding citizens. He joined the Lions Club and although somewhat crippled, was there to help with everything, especially youth baseball. Rex Garrett was 8 years old – team ages were 8-12. They played behind our grade school on the Louisville Road. Rex played second base. Later that year, Jim and Floyd coached together. Jim went to his home town of Chicago – brought each team member a pocket knife with Canadian Mounties colored picture on them! (Brought Reed one too!) Jim and Cecil Harvey coached the next year or 2. Floyd and I moved to town in 1964, in November, and the next ball season Jim and Floyd coached together. (Floyd became post master in 1964; we moved from the farm, and Floyd coached the next ten years – 1965 until 1975.) It was the coach’s wife to either find someone to work in the stands, or work ourselves. I had a little folding buggy I put Ray in! Ha!"

"Lion’s Field in Kinmundy is in some ways similar to the famous Field of Dreams in Iowa. Though there aren’t any ghosts appearing nearby, the large spacious Kinmundy ballpark sits just off the south bend on Illinois Route 37 and was once just a cornfield. But after more than 50 years, Lion’s Field, in all its retro-glory, is still home to the South Central High School baseball team and generations of memories. “It’s just an amazing place,” said Brent Geiler, an active Lion’s Club member who also grew up playing at Lion’s Field starting in Little League. “There have been a lot of families since the '60s that have jumped in and taken an interest to keep it going.”

Believed to have been first installed in the early '60s, Lion’s Field came about through the efforts of the local Lion’s Club. According to the Kinmundy Historical Society, one of the club’s members, Jim Davis, was pivotal in the field’s creation. "My dad, Floyd, and Jim and a bunch of guys in the Lion’s Club worked on that and got it going,” said Reed Garrett, a 1972 graduate of Kinmundy-Alma who played on the field as did his son, Shawn. The comparison between Davis and Ray Kinsella might not be spot on. After all, Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner in the 1989 sports flick, was an Iowa farmer who decided to build the diamond after hearing voices commanding him to do so, resulting in former Chicago White Sox players appearing out of the surrounding cornfields. Davis was a Chicago native who came to Kinmundy to live with his mother, Bertha, and in the process, helped the Lion’s Club re-establish the field. “He was very instrumental,” said Garrett. “He didn’t have any kids and he was about my dad’s age. He loved ball and he was a big White Sox fan. He did a lot.” Reed, who played on the diamond from Little League up through high school, still recalls picking corn for area farmers as a way to raise money for the field. “It was just a way to get the kids involved,” said Reed. “Everything that’s been done out there has been with volunteer help. We raised money ourselves and several farmers even brought equipment in to help.”

In the days since, it's been a dedicated group of individuals, including current South Central head coach Curt Jones, who have ensured the field’s upkeep and existence as one of the area’s true rural gems. “There’s been a pretty big group of people all along the years,” said Jones, who graduated from Kinmundy-Alma in 1976 and started coaching at South Central in 1997. “Jim Davis was part of the Lion’s Club and the Lion’s Club still owns it.” The field has undergone renovations and improvements over the years. Originally, the field had no outfield fence, though many recall that not being too much of a problem. “You just played the ball as far as it went,” said Garrett.

“Back in '89 when we consolidated, which I would have been a freshman then, they just had a foul pole down in that corner and a foul pole in that corner,” recalled South Central assistant coach Jamie VanScyoc. “I remember to this day, they were playing St. Elmo here and there was a kid running for a foul ball down the line and he ran smack dab into that foul pole, full speed, and knocked his two front teeth out and just laid him out.” A chain-link fence was later installed in the outfield, and then around 10 years ago, the field’s iconic wooden fence replaced it. “Curt was the engineer but he and myself and others built that wooden fence,” said Geiler, “It’s awesome. I think it enhanced the field. It has a retro feel to it. It’s like the old baseball stadiums.” The field was initially home to Kinmundy-Alma High School as an alternative field when the diamond in Alma was not able to be used. Then in 1989, Kinmundy-Alma and Farina-LaGrove combined to become South Central. As Lion’s Field saw steady improvements over the years, it became home for the Cougars. “We tore all the fences down and regraded the whole field,” said Jones, referring to the late '80s. Until recently, Lion’s Field was where boys and girls of all ages and across all levels played, making it difficult at times to schedule games and practices.

But last year, the Webster Family Park and its two diamonds were built near the grade school. One of the fields, Deep Rock Energy Field, is for softball and was completed last fall, though games were held there in the summer. The other field is nearing its completion and will serve as a junior high-sized field, though it too is currently being played on. Together, the two diamonds are helping to alleviate some of the scheduling issues at Lion’s Field. “Until those were built, everything was played here,” said Jones. “Tee-ball all the way up through high school. So it was jam-packed.” But it’s because of its unique utility that Lion’s Field has been home to almost anyone who played ball in the Kinmundy area over the last several decades. “If they played ball, they played here,” said Jones. And for many, Lion’s Field is a lot like home. “It’s pretty special to me,” said Geiler, whose son Trent is a senior this year on the team. “My dad grew up playing baseball there and so did I. “I remember watching my nephews win regional championships and then my son winning a regional here.”

Lion’s Field has also been graced by many high school players who went on to be drafted by Major League teams. South Central alone has produced three such players, including Shawn Garrett, Tanner Bushue and, most recently, Spencer Patton. “It’s pretty amazing how Kinmundy has produced that kind of talent,” said Geiler. “It’s mind-boggling, really.” On Monday, South Central hosted Teutopolis. And while the visiting Wooden Shoes walloped their host, Teutopolis head coach Justin Fleener still admired Lion’s Field after having played on it himself as a North Clay baseball player in the late '80s. “Look at the wooden fence,” said Fleener in reverence. “The dirt, there’s no softer dirt to play on. Any time of the year, the field is always in great shape. Even now, the outfield grass still looks green. It’s a nod to the coaches and the community itself.”

With fall weather now descending on the area, causing the line of trees to the northeast to change colors, Lion’s Field is perhaps in its full glory. Friday night, the Cougars will host conference foe North Clay under the lights. Friday night baseball in the fall just doesn’t get much better, according to VanScyoc, especially when playing at Lion’s Field. “You couldn’t have a better backdrop to hit against,” said VanScyoc. “It’s just the atmosphere of small-town baseball in the fall. There’s nothing better than playing out here.”

Back Row: Don Colee, Bill Vallow, Charles Bassett, Bob Gray, Charles White, Ralph Krutsinger