ELKTON — From the inception of the school to his passing in November of 2022, Rodney “Roscoe” Haley remained a familiar face to the students at Tri-State Christian Academy.
Living across the road from the school with his wife Dean, Roscoe routinely sat outside his house on Appleton Road and waved to any and every Tri-State Christian student.
“It was like clockwork,” Dean Haley said, recalling how her husband made it a point to support the Tri-State students. “No matter where we were or what was going on, when the kids got out of school and when they were on the baseball field he made sure to wave to them and put a smile on their faces.”
In late October 2023, Tri-State held a craft show fundraiser for its athletics program. Dean, just as her husband would do, made sure to stop by to support the school in any way she could. After a conversation with head baseball coach Jason Yates about the team’s needs, Dean decided to make a donation to the school for the addition of a batting cage in honor of her late husband.
Built next to the Crusaders’ baseball diamond, the cage is the first of its kind for the program.
“I played here in the 80’s and early 90’s, graduating in 1992, and I can tell you that since I have been here we have not had a batting cage for our athletes,” Tri-State athletic director Chris Scarbro said in a speech Friday.
Tri-State held a dedication ceremony Friday afternoon, where they unveiled the newly built batting cage and presented thank you signs, flowers, and speeches for Dean Haley who got to see what materialized from her donation to the school.
“It is very powerful that a community member stepped up to do something as kind as this for our kids and that it all started by her and I connecting over a shared passion for baseball,” Yates said. “But to me it was even more powerful that Dean and I crossed paths, I don’t believe in coincidences but I do believe that God put us together that day for a reason.”
Scarbro recalled his memories with Roscoe, noting the batting cage will be named “Haley’s Hit-Away” on “Roscoe and Dean Drive”, with a plaque and insignia being added to the cage in the coming weeks.
“I remember how much Roscoe loved baseball and all sports for that matter,” Scarbro said. “But what was most important to him was putting a smile on a child’s face.”
Both Tri-State and FCA used the cage before Friday’s first pitch. The smiles Roscoe loved putting on the faces of others were abundant with community members and players alike, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“This may not have been something that he would have done himself,” Dean Haley explained. “But I know that he is looking down at us smiling, knowing that this is able to help the kids that he cared so much for.”
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