Austin Scott is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Highland High School for AZPreps365.com.

Head coach Erik Kehoe is in the midst of his third season with the Highland Hawks and without hesitation, he couldn’t help but say the Highland baseball booster club is the best he has worked with in his coaching tenure. They have no ego, they are down to earth and they realize his thoughts and ideas drive the direction of the program.

The big picture for the club is as unselfish as it can get. Every member is volunteering their time, without pay, to enrich the experience of Highland baseball and to give the team the best experience possible.

“Our goal is just to help support the efforts of our team and help support our head coach and what his efforts are to make our players and our baseball team the best that it can be,” Club Vice President Autie Mousser said. “That means as far as what they wear and where they're playing, we fundraise mostly so that we can enhance the way that our team can perform.”

The club generates most of its funds through fundraising events, ranging anywhere from hosting golf and cornhole tournaments, planning banquets to selling christmas trees. 

Nohah Swayze, treasurer of the club, has had to adapt on the fly recently due to the pandemic. With the golf tournament not getting off the ground this past fall, the urgency to supply the team with necessary resources is very high.

“We try to help fill in the gaps where the schools aren't providing necessary or critical needs of the program for a functioning baseball team,” Swayze said. “They obviously give us the fields and everything else but as far as the improvements and stuff to help the boys out whether it's metrically or physically, you know, that's why we exist.”

The ongoing project for the club is keeping the field intact. All year long, Highland baseball and other programs use the field and are constantly digging their feet into the batter's box and the mound. It’s all unintentional and part of the game, but that means repairs are always necessary.

Every year, the board members of the club and Kehoe get together to discuss what the needs are from the coaches perspective. Another important part of that is involving parents and other members of the community to come up with good ideas to keep morale and spirits high for the players.

“It's a good working relationship. You know, a lot of behind the scenes stuff that a lot of folks wouldn't even know that happened. We're in constant communication, which is probably something a lot of folks don't realize either,” Kehoe said. “There’s lots of communication, just making sure we're on the same page.”

More recently, the club has been discussing different ways to raise money. Fundraising has been the primary way, but the board realizes that having the same events at the same time year in and year out can lead to donors losing interest over time. 

“Sometimes we feel like we try and do different fundraisers constantly throughout the year. So it’s a constant like asking for money from people,” Mousser said.

Over the last several months, the club has made improvements to the varsity hitting tunnel and bullpen, while also rebuilding and repurposing home plate and the pitching mound. The club then uses a technique called laser leveling to make sure that the infield is perfectly flat.

In the near future, the club is looking to make improvements to the visiting bullpen and the junior varsity hitting tunnel.

If you would like to support Highland Hawks baseball and make a donation or become a sponsor, visit highlandhawksbaseball.org/sponsors and fill out the General Sponsor Form at the bottom of the page. Future goals are in the works, but it all depends on what funds they have to work with, and how much support they can get from the community.

“Nothing is concrete because everything is volunteer-based or contributed, or sponsorship or donated to the program. We don’t really know what we are going to have and so it’s very fluid,” Swayze said.