By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Brandon Brooks, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in LaGrange, called it “a very special day for a friend.”

That summation covered Friday’s events quite nicely.

Charles Stanfield, the former head baseball coach at Hogansville High and Callaway High, was the guest of honor during a pair of ceremonies at Callaway High on Friday.

The baseball and softball complex at Callaway High has been re-named the Charles Stanfield Athletic Complex, and a new archway bearing that name was unveiled Friday afternoon before a baseball game between Callaway and Jordan.

After the game, a 15-0 victory for the Cavs, another ceremony was held on the baseball field for Stanfield.

Friends, colleagues, former players, family members and other well-wishers turned out to honor Stanfield, who is in a difficult fight with cancer.

“This is for all that you’ve done, and it chappen to a better man,” current Callaway baseball coach Dusty Hubbard said.

Stanfield said he is “humbled by what’s been done here,” referring not only to the addition of the new archway which bears his name, but to the baseball, softball and soccer facilities at the school.

He remembers when the school opened looking out and finding a “field full of rocks.”

Stanfield said that through the effort of a lot of coaches, as well as plenty of dedicated parents, Callaway’s athletic facilities are among the finest in the state.

“People don’t see the effort that goes into this,” he said.

Stanfield began coaching at Hogansville High in 1992, and he was an assistant in basketball and football and a head coach in baseball during his time at that school.

During his final year at Hogansville, he was an assistant on the basketball team that won a state title under the direction of Terry Hayes.

As the baseball coach at Hogansville, he guided the team to three straight region championships.

At Callaway, Stanfield did a bit of everything.

He served two different stints as the head baseball coach totaling four seasons, and he also coached cross country, basketball and football, and he was the school’s athletics director for four years.

Stanfield was also a success story as a social studies teacher, earning Teacher of the Year and Star Teacher honors at Callaway.

Friday afternoon, folks came up to Stanfield to thank him for what he’s done, and for the impact he has had on their lives.

There were former students, fellow teachers, and people like Hubbard who played for Stanfield.

“All those people think a lot of coach Stanfield,” Hubbard said.

Stanfield was the first head baseball coach at Callaway, and he turned that job over to Kevin Jones before the 1999 season.

Jones, now the Callaway High principal, went into administration after the 2000 season, so the school needed a new coach.

The search ended with Stanfield.

“We looked around and said, OK, you’re back in the saddle again,” Stanfield said.

Stanfield coached for a couple more years before turning the program over to Frank Glover.

After Glover left, Hubbard was handed the keys to the program, and he is in his fifth season as the head coach.

Stanfield said he had some “sleepless nights” while waiting to see if Hubbard was going to come to the school.

“We were fortunate enough to get Dusty,” said Stanfield, who coached Hubbard at Hogansville High. “It was a little luck, but also a whole lot of persistence.”

Stanfield is wheelchair-bound at the moment, and he is underdoing chemotherapy once a week.

Yet he’s a regular presence at Callaway home games, cheering his Cavs on, encouraging the players and the coaches.

Stanfield said he has been touched. but far from surprised, by the support he has received from his family at Callaway.

When someone is in need, the Callaway family “pulls together,” Stanfield said.

On Friday, Stanfield was smiling, his typical wry sense of humor was on display, and he humbly turned away any attempt to bestow credit on him.

“This is an honor I’m glad to share with a lot of other people,” he said.

As for his fight with cancer, Stanfield said it has been difficult, but he’s doing the best he can.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said. “That’s all you can do.”