Price American Legion coach receives award

By Sun Advocate

Hard work and dedication were acknowledged last week when Mayor Joe Piccolo presented a community achievement award to Willie Ellington, head coach for the Price American Legion baseball team, during the city council meeting.
Ellington was on the July 9 agenda to attempt to get funding for a lighting system to be installed at the Price baseball field.
“This is a real surprise,” quipped Ellington. “I wasn’t expecting this when I came here tonight but I have to say, it is a real honor to receive this award.”
The Price team was started in 2008 by Ellington and has been a success, according to Piccolo.
“Now that we have a team in Price, we can give more teenagers the chance to play baseball during the summer. Before we put together this team it was hard to accommodate all of the players in the county,” said Ellington. “I am trying hard to set a good example by coaching these guys and hope that more and more people will take interest and help to keep the team alive in upcoming years. Without having two teams in the county it would not be possible for everyone to have the opportunity to play.”
According to Ellington the implementation of lights would not only help the American Legion team but would also benefit the College of Eastern Utah’s baseball team.
The council didn’t make any solid commitments on behalf of the lighting system but stated that there is a possibility for funding of the project in the future.
Ellington said there hasn’t been a Price American Legion team in nearly 40 years.
“I plan to keep on coaching the team for the next couple of years. But my main goal is to help spark the interest of others in the community in order to keep the Price team alive,” said Ellington. “There is more than enough participants to fill the team but we need more adults that are willing to coach in order to keep everything running smoothly. Hopefully we will get more and more community support as time goes on and can enjoy the luxury of having a solid American Legion baseball team in Price for years to come.”