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Bryce Griffis Indoor Practice Facility
It was a dream of former Delta State legendary baseball coach Dave “Boo” Ferriss for players to have an indoor baseball practice center, where they could train year-round regardless of whatever curveball Mother Nature would throw their way. Thanks to his tireless fundraising efforts, that dream became a reality with the completion of the Bryce Griffis Baseball Practice Center in December of 2000.
The indoor practice 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 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.”
Former 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, a native of Starkville, Miss., is president and owner of the Sturgis Timber Company. The former Statesman made a lead gift to the baseball facility and endowed a gift to maintain it and Ferriss Field. In 1998, he established the President’s Endowment Fund for monies to fulfill student and departmental needs as approved by the President’s Cabinet. The endowment has been added to several times.
Griffis, a 1954 graduate of Delta State with a degree in business administration, lettered three years in baseball and football for the Statesmen. He was recognized as the University’s Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 1986 and has continued to provide leadership through service as a member of the DSU Foundation and president of the DSU Athletic Association.
Griffis has been a strong supporter of higher education, having served on the Board of Trustees of the Institutes of Higher Learning of the State of Mississippi from 1980-1992 and held the position of President in 1986-1987. He also served an unexpired term from 2000-2004 and again as President in 2002-2003. His 16 years of service to the IHL Board is the second longest tenure in history.
He was inducted into the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame in 2008 and received an Honorary Doctor of Public Service from Delta State University in 2010.
