Beech Community –
The crack of the bat, the yells of the players, and the bright lights illuminating the field returned to the Beech Community recently. It was the first time since 2019 that league games returned to the community center since the Beech Community Softball League fell apart and then the COVID pandemic in 2020 shut everything down.
That changed when a couple of softball players and people connected to the Beech Community Center started making an effort to get softball back onto the field.
Two of those players were Ashley Carter and Tim Dockery, who play for the Forks of Ivy Baptist Church and worked diligently to get the ballfield back in shape to allow games to be played on the field again. “The Lord worked his magic. All the lights still work… It’s been only by the grace of God and the Lord’s doing it. We planted some seeds and we let them manifest,” said Carter.
“The thing with this field is the lights,” Junior Woody, who sets up and schedules softball games for Buncombe Baptist, which hosted the tournament at Beech, told the Tribune. “Having the lights out here and this whole ballfield to come out and play” was a good fit for the league. We got with Ashley and we got the community together and we thought this would be a good idea, plus it helps the Forks of Ivy (team) have some home games. ” Woody is no stranger to the field since he grew up in the area and first played ball on the field when he was 17.
Woody said they all met, along with Cindy Ball, about a month and a half ago and put the tournament together. Ten teams make up the league. He said that from what he saw two months ago, “This was a great job they did on the field,” getting it in shape for the games. Carter and Dockery are the ones to give credit for getting the field in shape for play. After about two years of no league play, nature tends to reclaim what’s hers. “This is awesome for the tournament,” Woody concluded.
The churches in the league include Trinity of Fairview, Trinity Asheville, Pole Creek, Access Church, Forks of Ivy, West Asheville, Starnes Cove, Hominy, and Ridgeway. This tournament ends the summer season for the league until next year, and it is unknown if the league will have enough interest in fall ball to have a season.
Forks of Ivy ended up winning the Buncombe Baptist League’s B-Division Championship Friday, 12-5 against Starnes Cove Baptist in the tournament’s final.