Talk about life imitating art.
Central Catholic High School’s new baseball field sits on a parcel of land that was a corn field at this time last year, evoking memories of the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.”
Indeed, the plaque unveiled during the dedication Saturday of the Shovlin-Vehle Field at Kahlig Park refers to the facility, located about 15 minutes from Central Catholic off Interstate 35 South, as “Our Field of Dreams.”
Thanks to San Antonio auto dealer Clarence Kahlig, a 1965 Central Catholic graduate, the Buttons are no longer a team without a baseball field.
Kahlig, a former Central Catholic shortstop, donated the land for the field and paid for most of the construction costs. Kahlig Park includes adjacent batting cages and a practice field.
The Ed Rachal Foundation in Corpus Christi provided the Kahlig Park scoreboard, and lumber for the outfield fence and dugouts was donated by M.G. Building Materials.
But make no mistake: The linchpin in the project was Kahlig.
“Clarence takes care of that field,” said Carlos Enrico, Central Catholic’s longtime athletic director. “For a CEO like him to come out and rake the field and water it is really something. I thought about how his vision has come together when I was watching the dedication ceremonies.
The Buttons, who already had played at Kahlig Park this season, beat Austin St. Michael 10-2 in the game following Saturday’s festivities.
Shovlin-Vehle Field is named after Clara Shovlin and Mary Vehle, whose family had owned the land where Kahlig Park was built since 1939.
Shovlin and Vehle also have ties to Central Catholic. Shovlin had two sons who attended the school and Vehle had a grandson who was a Central Catholic student.
Kahlig bought 54 acres from Shovlin and Vehle, dedicating 6.6 of that to the baseball complex.
While Kahlig is an avid baseball fan, he said his motivation for building a home for Buttons baseball transcended the game.
“I did it to promote Christian education and the mission of the Marianist priests and brothers,” Kahlig said in a quiet moment after the dedication festivities. “I’ve seen the commitment they’ve made to the school and the great influence they have on our students. They dedicate their lives to the Central Catholic community and promoting academic excellence.”
Kahlig, 63, said he hopes the new baseball field helps increase enrollment and gives the entire athletic program a boost “because that will be good for Christian education.”
Kahlig owns seven auto dealerships, including the new North Park Toyota a stone’s throw from the baseball park.
Despite the demands of his role as president of Kahlig Enterprises, Kahlig is never too busy to help his alma mater. He was an assistant coach for the Buttons’ freshman football team last year, and remains active in alumni activities throughout the year.
“The whole sense of family is what makes Central Catholic the school it is,” Kahlig said. “There’s a sense of brotherhood among the students that continues after you graduate.”
Central Catholic, an all-boys school that opened in 1852, has an enrollment of nearly 525 in grades 9-12 this spring.
Kahlig attended Central Catholic for four years before going to Texas A&I, now Texas A&M-Kingsville, on a football scholarship in the fall of 1965. A quarterback for the Buttons, he was a starting wingback at A&I as a sophomore in 1966 before a back injury essentially ended his career.
Kahlig attended Southwest Texas State for a semester before transferring to Texas, where he hoped to play baseball again under coach Cliff Gustafson, who had built a dynasty at South San.
“Coach Gustafson said I could come out for the team, but that I probably wouldn’t play much,” Kahlig said. “So I never played again.”
Channeling most of his energy toward his studies, Kahlig graduated in 1970 with a degree in business. He went into the auto business shortly thereafter and reached a new plateau in his career when he bought North Park Lincoln-Mercury from W.C. “Bill” Langley in 1982.
Unassuming and friendly, Kahlig exudes a warmth that sets people at ease immediately.
“He’s very likable, very humble and very generous,” booster Jeff Weaver said.
Assistant baseball coach George De Leon expressed similar sentiments.
“His generosity is unbelievable,” De Leon said. “He never holds anything back.”
Enrico chuckled when he recalled an anecdote that demonstrates Kahlig’s love for sports and working with young athletes.
“He was coaching a Pop Warner team and he called me one day to ask if I could stop by practice and talk to the kids,” Enrico said. “Well, I go out there and the kids all had helmets like Texas. I showed them how to do a few things. I remember walking to our vehicles after practice and asking Clarence, ‘Did you ever think of being a coach?’
“I could see that he was good with kids and liked coaching. When he started helping coach the freshmen last year, I wondered how many times he would be out there because his business keeps him pretty busy. But he was always at practice.”
Kahlig also has coached AAU baseball in recent years, helping two teams finish third in the country in their age division.
“I’m blessed to be able to do these things,” he said. “I have a lot of good people who work for me. I know I can depend on them. I like to coach.”
Joe Cortez, who was Kahlig’s baseball coach at Central Catholic, dropped by Saturday’s dedication ceremonies to congratulate his former player.
“Clarence was a tremendous competitor who really loved baseball,” Cortez said. “This field is a dream come true for Central Catholic.”
And proof that life sometimes imitates art.
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