The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT April 24, 2013

This Saturday's 4A Inland Empire League baseball doubleheader at Lakeland High will be about a lot more than balls and strikes - or just which team will be the higher seed once the Region 1 tournament begins on May 4.

After renaming its baseball field Gorton Field at the start of the season, Lakeland will hold a formal dedication Saturday at noon, prior to its twinbill with Sandpoint, to remember Terry Gorton.

GORTON, WHO coached in the Lakeland School District for 25 years, passed away due to cancer in November 2010. While at Lakeland, he coached football, boys and girls basketball and baseball, as well as extracurricular activities like speech and drama. He also reffed high school football games.

When current Lakeland baseball coach Jason Bradbury took over in 2004, the school district wanted to have Gorton around to mentor him with the program.

"Our (then) athletic director Will Havercroft wanted to make sure I had some help," Bradbury said. "He asked Terry if he would be willing to mentor for just one year so that I would have someone to turn to and learn from. Without hesitating, Terry agreed, even after Mr. Havercroft told him he wouldn't be getting a full stipend, but be mostly acting in a 'volunteer' role. His goal was to make sure that I had the help and that the program was in good hands."

Five years later, Gorton was still assisting Bradbury.

"I simply wouldn't let him leave the program," Bradbury said, "even though he'd tell me every year that it was going to be his last. I just couldn't think of the program going on without his knowledge, experience and friendship. Throughout those five years, coach Gorton and I became good friends and worked well together. Personally, I think he just liked being around the kids, as well as the game he loved so deeply. Whatever the case may be, I was the lucky one.

“It was only to cancer that Terry had to walk away from the game. With that said, he still managed to show up and watch us play from time to time. He loved showing his support and took great pride in helping students become the best they could be, whether that be in sports, education or their future. He loved that his family resided in this community and was proud to call himself a Rathdrum resident,” Bradbury said.

KEN BUSCH also coached with Gorton at Lakeland before retiring in 2002 from the baseball program.

“Terry was an astute baseball guy, but more than that, he was a motivator of kids,” Busch said. “He had the ability to ‘jump over’ a player for a dumb mistake, but then would be laughing with the same player a few minutes later.”

Even on the long bus trips to and from games, Gorton kept things interesting.

“Terry would regale me with stories about playing college baseball (at Lewis-Clark State) against a prison team, his days working for a yogurt company, and best of all, traveling with his family,” Busch said. “He made the time fly by and injected a ton of humor into the most humdrum experiences.”

Events planned for Saturday include Gorton’s family members throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, as well as speeches by some coaches and alumni that knew Gorton.

“I think naming the field after Terry is a great idea,” Busch said. “He was a one-of-a-kind individual — an educator, coach, a motivator, a husband and a father. He was a great guy with whom to teach, to coach and just hang around. We all at Lakeland miss him and kudos to Jason, Trent Derrick and others to make this day a special one. As Terry would say, ‘Go Hawks.’”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.