Beech senior Keaton Allison wins Brock Haley Award

Keaton Allison has wanted to win Beech's Brock Haley Award since he was a freshman. 

“Brock was an amazing guy, to receive an award named after him is such a big honor. I couldn’t imagine myself ever winning it,” Allison said. “He’s the type of guy I would love to be more like.”

The scholarship, which is awarded annually to a graduating Beech senior baseball player, is to honor the late Brock Haley, who died following a January 2013 rollover car accident.

“It means more than baseball; it’s more than an accomplishment. It means I’m a great leader. Brock was the type of guy I would love to be more like,” Allison said.

Allison will be attending the University of Tennessee in the fall, but no longer plans to continue playing baseball.

Brock's mother Carleen Herndon created the $2,500 scholarship to award a graduating Beech senior baseball player, but more importantly to honor her son.

Haley was a former Beech baseball and football standout before his death in 2013.

“No mother, no parent wants to lose a child, it’s totally out of order, but through this award I wanted to make a difference,” Herndon said. “I thought this was a great opportunity to really keep his legacy alive, and to give somebody else a start.”

In the years since his death, the BuckleUpForBrock Campaign and the Brock Haley Scholarship Fund —  both named in his honor — are continuing to merit local support.

Haley was ejected from his vehicle and suffered major head injuries which could have been avoided had he been wearing a seat belt, Herndon said.

“If he had (been wearing a seat belt), he would be alive today. It cuts like a knife, knowing that as a mother, he wasn’t wearing a seat belt that night. It really hurts,” Herndon said. “As a kid he never knew life without being buckled in a car seat or buckled up in the car.”

The scholarship is awarded to raise awareness about seat belt laws, Herndon said.

“Now the message is ‘don’t text and drive’, but the 'buckle up message' is getting lost. It’s astounding the number of people who don’t buckle up,” Herndon said. “Don’t (buckle up) for you, do it for the people you love.”

Determined by the Beech coaching staff, the award is given to the senior athlete who best exemplifies “Lessons Learned from Brock,” the letter given to the team before the season begins coach Jimmy Neal said.

“The winner has to be team-oriented,” Neal said. “They have to show genuine faith and they have to work hard.”

Neal served as an assistant baseball coach at Beech for six years before being named head coach in 2013, the first year the award was presented.

Herndon has held an annual Brock-a-Palooza fundraiser to garner support for the scholarship since 2013. In the past the fundraiser has centered around softball tournaments and wine tasting, but this year Herndon wanted to try something new.

“I’m finding now that his teammates are older, they are more interested in golf,” Herndon said. “This is a great opportunity for everyone to get together kind of like a reunion.”

The 2017 Brock-a-Palooza Golf Scramble will be held Aug. 12 at the Twelve Stones Golf Club in Goodlettsville.