Sandlot teams find the right sound for album

By Kyle Mooty

LPR Editor

Members of Lockhart’s sandlot baseball teams have been asked to hit the cutoff man. They are now expected to hit the right notes and chords.

The Hawks and Meat City Smoke, which includes several baseball players with more talent on stage than perhaps on the diamond, have finished a compilation album – Sandlot Season One: Lockhart (presented by Stolen Base Records), to be released this week.

The album will include an original track – Come on Down — by Shane Renfro (aka RF Shannon). The album is $20 with proceeds benefiting the Lockhart Sandlot Baseball Club. It can be purchased at local retailers Lockhart Arts & Craft, Commerce Gallery, Chaparral, Good Things Grocery, Magic Mirror Vintage, Kreuz Market, Old Pal, and many more. It can also be purchased online at Lockharthawks.com.

The album was produced by Tamara Deike with artwork and design by Eric W. Mast. The album photo is by Kamila Knight. It was mastered by Max Lorenzen at Rare Ear in Lockhart with Alec Esh as the Creative Consultant. Finally, it was manufactured at Gold Rush Vinyl, an all-female owned business in Austin.

“One of my favorite parts of the work we do at Gold Rush Vinyl is getting to see ‘What if…’ ideas come to life, like this Sandlot album,” said Caren Kelleher of Gold Rush Vinyl. “It’s so unique to the teams and gives the community a way to support both the team itself and the musicians who play out on the field.

“This might be the first album made by a baseball team — not even Jack White’s Warstic sandlot team can say that.”

The Meat City Smoke will play the Worms on Saturday at 700 Carver Field at Lockhart City Park at 10 a.m. Shane Renfro along with Austin Burge and Trav Knight will play an acoustic version of “Come on Down” during the 7th Inning Stretch.

The album’s track list includes:

SIDE A

“Come on Down” — Arranged/Composed by Shane Renfro (writing collaborators Jonathan Ray Case and Parker Chapin); featuring vocals by Kelly Dugan, Laura McNairy and Kathryn Chuber.

Jonathan Ray Case — “1981” 

Trav Knight — “Cactus King” 

Shapes and Codes — “Bang Bang Sweet”

Kelly Dugan — “Pepper of the Earth”

SIDE B

RF Shannon — “Tangerine Marigold” (Casinos in the Wild Demo)

Will Rhodes — “In Here Out There”

Parker Chapin — “Damn Good Time” 

Taylor Mowrey Burge — “The Timber”

swayzeyi — “So Much, So Soon” (No-Beats Edit)

“We had so many musicians on the Hawks and Smoke,” Deike said. “I went to them and asked them if they had a song they would like to put on the record. Many of them just had to finish it because they would start things and put it aside. I said we should put a compilation album out. Fortunately, in Texas you can play baseball to December. It takes a while to make a record, so I asked everyone to finish their songs in about two weeks.”

Deike said she mentioned Texas sunsets, sunshine, and the crack of a ball, then asked Renfro what he could come up with that image in mind.

“He really did it,” Deike said. “Members of the team sing backup vocals. They even give shout out to people in town like Joe Carter.”

The album was to be released at Two Wishes Ranch, site of the future baseball field being built for the Hawks and Meat City Smoke. However, there were plans to use a schoolhouse there from the 1800’s and a recent tornado ripped off its roof.

Musician/baseball team member Parker Chapin loved the experiences he’s having with the sandlot team.

“It was weird,” Chapin said. “Never did I think I’d play baseball again, so when I was asked by my baseball team to contribute to the record they want to put out, I was equally dumbfounded and stoked.”

The Lockhart Sandlot Baseball Club was founded in 2022 and has helped with fundraisers for Feeding Lockhart Meal Bank, Pride of Caldwell County, and Another One.