By Jim Newell

Review Editor

It was bottom of the ninth inning, down by $60,000 and it didn’t look like Orion Township was going to meet its fundraising goal of $150,000 for the Orion on Deck adaptive baseball field.

Then, the generous people of Orion and its surrounding communities stepped up to the plate, taking the ball deep to centerfield with a homerun that reached nearly $170,000.

The crowd cheered; Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett nearly wept.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

But while it may sound like a fantasy tale, in reality it was the same result.

Orion Township was short of its fundraising goal with the Sept. 13 online deadline looming and 24 hours left to meet the target amount.

Barnett admits he was downtrodden by not meeting the fundraising goal, until Taylor told him to buck-up and get back in the game. The two concocted a scheme to camp out at Friendship Park, do live Facebook video feeds and call everyone they knew – and their distant cousins – to come out and donate to the field.

Now, Orion on Deck, the all-inclusive baseball field at Friendship Park will be built after an all-nighter on Sept. 12 by Barnett and Scott Taylor, president of the Lake Orion school board, and their friends.

The field will be the home turf for the Orion Hawks, the adaptive softball team for individuals with special needs.

It will also be used for disabled veterans, therapeutic programs, the Lake Orion Wiffleball Association, kickball tournaments and the community-at-large, said Parks Director Aaron Whatley.

Barnett said that while there were several large donations, most of the donations came in smaller increments — $100 here, $50 there – from caring citizens.

“Most of the people heard about the field and said, ‘Hey, we want to be part of this,’” Barnett said. “People just started showing up and bringing checks. It was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever been a part of.

“The Orion Hawks showed up, they got their gloves and were playing on the field. They were telling people, ‘Hey, this is our new home field.’ They were so proud. It was just so cool,” Barnett said.

Whatley estimates that construction on the new ballfield will begin in early October. The infield will be a soft, spongy turf; dugouts and benches will be handicapped accessible; and there will be a wheelchair path to the field.

Barnett said the township will hold a special groundbreaking ceremony in the upcoming weeks, but details and a date have not been finalized, yet.

Larry Mullins, executor of the Jim and Betty Guy trust, donated $50,000, Barnett said.

The Lake Orion Wiffleball Association donated $20,000.

The LO Palooza Festival – run by the Daisy Project – on Sept. 9 raised $25,000 for the field.

And then there was Suzanne Baber, who walked in to Orion Township Hall, said “I would like to make a donation.” She left a check for $10,000, telling Barnett she’d been fortunate and after reading about Orion on Deck in the Sept. 6 issue of The Lake Orion Review, decided that that was how she wanted to spend her money.

Barnett said when Baber told him what she wanted to do, he ran out from behind the counter of his office, gave her a hug and asked her to pose for a photo.

Many of the communities in North Oakland County – Orion, Oxford, Clarkston, Rochester, Waterford – have adaptive softball teams for individuals with special needs who will use the new field next summer.

“This field needs to be used all the time, whether it’s our community or other communities. We are open to that,” Whatley said.

Now that they have eclipsed their fundraising goal, Barnett said the township will look into adding dugouts to the field.

Anyone who wishes can still mail donations to Orion Township Hall, 2525 Joslyn Rd., Lake Orion, MI 48304, with “Orion on Deck” in the memo line of check.

Friendship Park – where the field will be built – is on the corner of Baldwin and Clarkston roads and already has two wheel-chair accessible swings, a seesaw and an inclusive whirl merry-go-round for people with special needs.