A Community Rallies Behind One Of Its Leaders
HAMPTON ROADS, VA - When St. Clair Jones was helping Great Bridge High School's baseball team to the top of the Southeastern District two decades ago, he could feel the love and support that South Hampton Roads has for its diamond squads.
When Jones took over the reins of Kellam High in 2001, and with the help of Ryan Zimmerman (now with the Washington Nationals), led the Knights to the regional title the next year, he and his team got a ballpark-sized amount of backing from Virginia Beach and the rest of the nearby area.
But it wasn't until Jones needed the locals to be there for him - not just as a player or a coach, but as a person - that he may have truly understand just how much he meant to so many.
Last January 22, Jones was driving through Virginia Beach on an icy morning. Suddenly, his car skidded off the road and hit a tree. Jones suffered fractured vertebrae in his back, and his spinal cord was damaged.
"It was so tragic," sophomore Patrick Harrington recalled of the accident. "Nobody knew what had really happened." Months later, Jones is still confined to a wheelchair, with his prognosis uncertain.
But when the baseball team he's coached since 2001 kicked off its season, Jones was in the dugout (before his accident, he also taught special education at Kellam). As his players have hit Beach District diamonds over the past few weeks, he's still there, encouraging and teaching.
"He's always still behind us," Harrington said. "He's always there. We were sad at first, but now we're happy, because we knew that he didn't want us to be sad."
Even before the season, however, the area was there for Jones. Fundraisers in his honor sprang up in businesses across the area. The Kellam community held auctions, car washes, and other events to help.
On April 19, one of the most well-known organizations in Hampton Roads stepped forward- the Norfolk Tides, Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate. Thousands of tickets were sold for the Tides' battle with Durham at Harbor Park, and a portion went to Smith. By the time the game began, over $15,000 had been generated. A team representative said he'd been told that it was the biggest fundraiser in the stadium's 15-year history.
"We approached the Tides, and they were very generous and very supportive in allowing us to do this tonight," said assistant coach Ryan Kurpiel, who played a year for Jones before graduating from Kellam in 2001. "We're trying to help ease the financial burden that's attached to the situation."
Before the game, dozens of varsity and junior varsity Knights gathered in the stands, while many Tide officials wore T-shirts with Jones' coaching mantra, "One Team, One Goal," stenciled on the back.
"I think he's sent more kids to college than he hasn't," Kurpiel said. "It really shows you what a great guy he is, because all of our alumni always come back. The kids at college, when they're home on break, they come by to take some cuts at the dome. He's touched a lot of lives. He's a great man, a great coach, and a great teacher." According to Kurpiel, immediately after the accident, while Jones was still waiting for an ambulance to come for him, Jones called the Kellam principal to let him know he'd be missing work because of his injuries.
As game time drew nearer and the stands filled, a van wheeled its way out from behind the centerfield fence. It headed down the right field line and stopped just outside the Tides' dugout.
As anticipator cheers and applause rose from the stands, the van's side door opened, and Jones was wheeled out. Flanked by his mother and other members of his family, Jones made his way to behind home plate as the cheer grew.
"He has been a real mentor and inspiration to me," Kurpiel told the crowd. "I have never met anyone who lives up their name quite like this man. He truly is a Saint."
As thousands gave him a standing that went on and on, Jones took the microphone.
"This has been a very difficult transition," he said, "but because of people like you, the community, and all of Hampton Roads, I know I'll get through it. My inner strength and my will will definitely get me through this, but all of you, in some way, shape, or form, have inspired me just to continue this fight."
Then out from the dugout stepped a few surprises from Jones' past - fellow alumni of his Great Bridge title team.
"St. Clair was the hardest-working person on our team," said Claude Clark, who took a break from his marine core duties in Louisiana to attend. "He never took a day off, and he always cared about the team more than himself. He did whatever he could do to get on the field and help the team out."
Bringing up the end of the line was someone who presided over Great Bridge for over two decades before representing a slightly larger platform: parts of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake in the Senate.
"It's a special thing," said Senator Harry Blevins. "It's tragic, the reason that we're here tonight, but it's going to mean a lot to (Jones), and I'm glad we're doing this. I've known St. Clair since he was a small boy (Jones' father, the late St. Clair Sr., was Blevins' assistant principal), and he's from a wonderful family. I'm proud of what he was able to accomplish as a coach, and as a human being."
As the game - yes, there was still one to play! - got rolling, Jones headed up to a stadium suite with his family.
"With just a quick glance across the audience, I saw people that I hadn't seen in years," he said. "I really hate to get in front of people, but from the moment this happened, I've been surrounded by love and care, so it felt like love."
But will there come a day when Jones is able to rise from his wheelchair, to run the bases with his players, to show them the correct way to slide into home plate and field a hot grounder?
"So far, so good," he said. "Every day is a new challenge. People ask me how things are going, and I say that I live day by day. There's good days and bad days. But when things are going bad, I just think about all the positive energy that's around me. There's progress being made, and I'm happy with it. I was active before my accident, and that's not going to change."
