Central Methodist University officially dedicated its new state-of-the-art baseball clubhouse and scoreboard Saturday at Estes Field, a major upgrade funded by a generous gift from Jay and Kelly Jacobs.

The dedication ceremony took place just before the Eagles hosted Benedictine College in the final doubleheader of the regular season. Central Methodist responded with a pair of victories, winning 4-1 and 5-0 to claim three of four games in the weekend series (see series write-up below).

Dr. Nancy Walker Peacock ’82, chair of the CMU Board of Trustees, opened the program by thanking the Jacobs family for their vision and support.

“Baseball is especially meaningful to Jay, who grew up playing junior and senior Babe Ruth ball,” Peacock said. She recounted Jay’s days as a catcher and a memorable walk-off single that sent his Babe Ruth team to state. “Jay, you have come up big yet again.”

The new facility includes modern locker rooms, equipment storage, and improved amenities that serve both the CMU Eagles and the Fayette High School programs. Along with a new digital scoreboard, it’s the latest upgrade to the facility, including the all-turf field and enhanced dugouts.

CMU head baseball coach Nate Breland ’06, now in his 25th year with the program as both player and coach, described the stark transformation of Estes Field since his arrival in 2002.

“If you guys could imagine what this looked like in 2002 when I got here…chain link everything, weeds, dirt, limited grass,” he recalled. “We now have one of the top five, if not one of the top, facilities in the NAIA. And I would compare this facility to many Division IIs.”

Fayette High School head coach Andy Oeth expressed gratitude for the shared facility and the partnership between the university and the high school.

“This is by far the best Class 2 facility in the state,” Oeth said. “And I think it rivals most Class 5 and 6 facilities.”

CMU team captain and senior outfielder Ryan Malzahn, who previously played at the Division I and Division II levels, called Estes Field his favorite place to play.

“I love everything about this place,” he said. “I’m extremely grateful. It’s something I do not take for granted.”

Fayette senior captain Payton Oeth said the upgraded facility “rivals just about any Class 1 to Class 6 team in the state, and I’d even go as far as to say the nation.”

Fayette High School resurrected its baseball program in 1990 after having abandoned the sport in 1957 in favor of fielding a football team. The Falcons have played at Estes Field since then. But sharing the field with the Eagles prior to the upgrades was difficult with poor drainage amid rainy Missouri spring weather. The new turf limits rainouts and allows both teams to practice and play without damaging the field.

Jacobs played a significant role in forging the partnership between the university and the high school for dual use of the enhanced facility. A graduate of both and a CMU trustee, the President and Chair of the Board at Commercial Trust Company and former president and managing director of Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) recalled the history of baseball in the community and the dramatic improvement the new facility represents.

“I would describe the history of baseball in Fayette, both at Central Methodist and at the high school and the summer programs, as uneven, and that might be generous,” Jacobs said.

He recalled having to prepare the dirt infield before a Babe Ruth doubleheader against Salisbury.

“About a half dozen of us who were all starters on the team came down because there were clumps of weeds and grass that had grown in the infield, and it really wasn't playable. We worked for probably two or three hours getting the field into a playable condition, went home, cleaned up, put on our uniforms, and came back. We were pretty evenly matched with Salisbury, but we were so exhausted we got 10-runned in back-to-back games.”

Standing at home plate before a CMU doubleheader, Jacobs marveled at the transformation of Estes Field from his youth to the state-of-the-art all-turf field today.

“Now we stand here with this tremendous facility and this tremendous asset, and it's really kind of mind-blowing,” he said.

Jacobs praised CMU President Dr. Roger Drake for his leadership and shared vision that became not only a state-of-the-art college field. One that would be shared with the high school team and summer programs, with a dedicated locker room for the Falcons.

“He saw my bet and raised me,” Jacobs said.

As a special token of appreciation, Malzahn and Payton Oeth presented Jay with custom jerseys representing both the Falcons and Eagles, and sporting the Jacobs name along with the number 26 on the back.