Bryce Griffis Baseball Practice Center
Statesmen Baseball Indoor Practice Facility
Daniel Hawthorne
The Bryce Griffis Baseball Practice Center is proof that dreams can come true. The indoor baseball practice center had been a dream of former Delta State legendary baseball coach David “Boo” Ferriss and through his tireless fundraising efforts the dream became a reality in December of 2000.
The facility is 10,400 square feet and includes a full-size infield area when the nets of the two batting cages are raised, two portable pitching mounds and retractable wall panels to allow expanded practice area. Throughout the practice area is a revolutionary artificial turf called “Agra Turf” that busted onto the athletic scene at the University of Nebraska, the University of Washington and at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Tropicana Field. A room in the center highlights former players and features the all-time accomplishments of the University's’s baseball program. The foyer of the building recognizes all of the donors to the project.
“We are extremely proud of the indoor practice facility,” said DSU head baseball coach Mike Kinnison. “It is a tremendous asset to our program in recruiting and player development. Having a practice place at our disposal during inclement weather makes it is much easier to plan quality practices.
“I think it is a positive that when we have prospective players on campus that we can show them a facility that not everyone else has,” added Kinnison. “They can see an opportunity here for them to Develop completely.”
Delta State University president Dr. David Potter announced that the indoor baseball facility would be named The Bryce Griffis Baseball Practice Center following the approval by the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning of the State of Mississippi at their January 2000 meeting.
Griffis of Starkville, president and owner of Sturgis Timber Company, made a lead gift to the baseball facility and an endowed gift to maintain it and Ferriss Field. In 1998, he established the Bryce Griffis Endowment Fund to provide monies to fulfill departmental and/or student needs, and in 1987 endowed a gift to the College of Business. A 1954 graduate of Delta State, Griffis lettered three years in baseball and football. He was recognized as the University's Outstanding Alumnus in 1986 and has continued to provide leadership through service as a member of the DSU Foundation Board of Directors and president of the Athletic Alumni Association.
Griffis has been a strong supporter of higher education, having served on the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning from 1980-1992, and as its president in 1986-87. He was appointed by former Gov. William Winter.