Fairchild selected to coach in THSBA all-star game
By Sam Waller
Albany Lions baseball coach David Fairchild has been recognized by his peers by being selected to coach in this year’s Texas High School Baseball Association All Star Game.
Fairchild will help coach the North team in the Class 2A-4A game, scheduled for noon Saturday, June 17 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
“Sometimes, a coach will go his whole career and never get to the big all-star game,” said Fairchild, who has guided Albany to two state-tournament appearances. “There’s all kinds of all-star games, but I thought I was going to go my whole career and never get to do this big one.”
Three coaches will rotate between first base, third base, and the dugout. Fairchild will be joined by Kevin Bartley of Class 4A Mabank, and Curt Cole of Class 3A Whitesboro.
The all-star event will last just one day with players arriving at 8:00 a.m. Saturday with the game at noon.
“Austin still has a little -COVID, so the kids aren’t being put up on Friday night,” Fairchild said. “It’s the first time since I’ve been coaching they’re not letting kids spend the night.”
Fairchild expressed concern that the situation could create hardship for players who have to travel very far. The North roster includes players from Canyon, Amarillo, and Bushland.
“Kids from the Panhandle of Texas have to meet us at 8 o’clock in the morning at Dell Diamond,” he said. “Some of their parents may not have enough money to travel 10 hours one way and pay for meals for two days and hotel rooms. They may decline.”
Fairchild said it’s rather unusual for a participating coach not to have a player in the game, but not unprecedented. Stephenville’s Kyler Bowman and Brock’s Tyler Moody are the only players from schools relatively close to Albany.
“I’ve been coaching nearly 30 years and I’ve only had two kids selected in my whole career,” he said. “It’s 2A through 4A, and they only take 21 players.”
Long Ball Postponed
Albany’s Long Ball fund-raiser, scheduled for Sunday, June 11 was postponed because of a rash of scheduling conflicts, Fairchild said.
“We had too many people out of town, so we pushed it back to a later date that’s not been determined yet,” he said. “We’ll find time when we can get most of our team here.”
Players have been accepting pledges for how far they can hit the ball. Each will hit five fair balls with the longest determining the amount of the donation.
Proceeds from the event will go toward new uniforms, field upkeep, and other expenses incurred by the baseball program.
