Hundreds gathered at Memorial Stadium Thursday to celebrate the opening of the city’s baseball and softball season but also to honor the late Elton Reece.

Mayor George Evans, Probate Judge Kim Ballard and interim recreation director Lebo Jones were among the speakers who said a few words about Reece, who served more than two decades with the Selma Recreation Department.

“I’m going to miss coach Reece. He was my friend — there’s no doubt about that,” Evans said. “He had a tremendous love for the city of Selma and all the work he did across the state. There’s nothing you can name that he wasn’t involved in. I don’t know how he did it [all] to be honest with you.”

Evans announced to the crowd that the Dallas County Commission will vote on a motion Monday that would name the Baseball Complex after Reece and that the Selma City Council will vote Tuesday on a motion to name the Dallas County Sportsplex in his honor.

“He worked in both parts, as far as county and city,” Evans said. “The two want to honor him in such a way that gives credibility to what he did for the city of Selma.”

The guest speaker was Phillip Morgan, who played baseball for Reece and is originally from Selma.

“I catch myself daily thinking about things that I learned years and years ago — things that coach Reece taught me in high school and how he did that in a special way without us knowing it,” Morgan said.

Each of the players in this year’s city league will be presented pins with Reece’s initials on them to wear on their caps. The pins are meant to serve as a reminder to the players and coaches of the difference Reece made in their lives and in the lives of so many others.

“There’s no way in the world to replace Elton Reece,” Ballard said. “The only thing we can lean back on now is the memories we got off him.”

Reece’s wife, Joy, son Todd, daughter Lane, daughter-in-law Kellie and granddaughter Ellie were among those in attendance. The crowd was full of Reece’s former players, who were asked to stand at one point during the ceremony.

“I’d much rather him be here with us, but since he’s not, on behalf of my family I thank you for being the city and community that he loved and spent 44 years devoting his life to,” Todd said. “Thank you for the support that you’ve given our family over the last week and a half.”