Buhach Colony High dedicates softball field in honor of man who helped build it
For close to 20 years, Buhach Colony High softball players and the community of Awater have benefited from the improvements made to the softball field on campus.
On Friday afternoon, Buhach Colony High School honored the man that made those field improvements possible.
The school named the softball facility Bob E. Dallas Field in honor of the late Bob E. Dallas.
School administrators, former players and the Dallas family were on hand for a pregame ceremony before Buhach Colony hosted El Capitan on Friday afternoon.
“If my dad was still alive he wouldn’t stand for this,” said Dallas’ son Bobby Dallas, who coached the Thunder from 2005 to 2009. “Now that’s he passed this is befitting of what he did for this program.”
According to his son, Bob E. Dallas spent close to $250,000 to improve the softball field at Buhach Colony in 2003 and 2004.
“He financed it himself but we had a lot of help to do it,” Bobby Dallas said.
They brought in 150 tractor trailer loads of dirt to help level the field and get rid of a 9-foot slope down the right-field line. They refurbished the infield playing surface and fixed home plate.
“(The school district) had talked to him about offering scholarships,” Bobby Dallas said. “He wanted to do something that would have an immediate impact. When he saw the state of the softball field, he decided that’s what he’s going to do.”
Dallas said his father’s baseball career was cut short after he was involved in a bad car collision while playing in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system. Dallas said his father loved watching other athletes play and pursue their dreams on the diamond.
Dallas knew the Thunder had a strong incoming class of softball players, including his granddaughter, Morgana.
“He felt the group we had coming up would have been cheated if they had to play on this field,” Bobby Dallas said. “We had a great group of girls coming in, a lot of them went on to play college softball. He felt they deserved a decent field to play on.”
Bobby Dallas coached the Thunder to three consecutive Central California Conference championships from 2005 to 2007.
Bob E. Dallas died in 2017 at the age of 85
Buhach Colony High principal Jennifer Euker said the community and school will benefit from Dallas’ contributions for years to come.
“Not only has it benefited Buhach Colony students, but we’ve had staff games here, we’ve had youth teams come use the field and currently a couple T-ball teams use the field; so, he’s impacted the whole community of Atwater for 15 years,” Euker said.
