HICKORY, N.C. — Everyday. Relentless. Selfless.

These three words are the pillars that Paul Rozzelle is attempting to build his Catawba Valley Community College baseball program on.

The fifth-year Red Hawk head coach is starting with the final word — selfless — as the focus for his baseball players in developing a special relationship with Shuford Elementary School in Conover and its students this year.

Catawba Valley baseball players are donating one hour a week of their time on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, working with and talking to students.

The idea for the volunteer work started last year when Rozzelle and his players helped offer help to Shuford Elementary during the school's annual Field Day.

"We knew that there were some great opportunities over there," Rozzelle said of Shuford. "It's close to our school. Shuford Elementary has been so great in wanting us to come over there. We decided we wanted to do a little more in terms of what we can do. Instead of coming one time a semester, we want to do it every week. (Shuford) did such a great job of setting it up in terms of lunch programs, reading programs and our guys going to certain classes. They do it every week, not just once. So they get to develop relationships with the kids, the teachers and the faculty over there. I would hope that they become a part of the school and a part of those kid's lives. It's just important that we serve something greater than ourselves. This is just one opportunity for us to be able to do that."

Whether it's helping them with a variety of subjects in the classroom or socializing with them at the lunch table, Red Hawk players such as pitcher Timothy Davila have a chance to make a small impact on a local child's life.

"I enjoy doing it for the kids," said Davila, a freshman from Belmont, N.C. "I like seeing the kids and having fun with them. They talk about all of the players on the team. They have nicknames for us. It's funny to hear some of them. I know they enjoy having us up here, and I enjoy being up here."

Cayley Berry, a fifth-grade teacher at Shuford, says having the Red Hawks around is a positive for students at her school.

"The kids really love that they come every week and that they get to build a relationship with these guys," Berry said. "Our entire staff is all women, and a lot of our kids come from a single parent home or they don't have a male role model. So it's wonderful for them to get to build that relationship and get to have a positive influence that can help better them."

Service before self is the message Rozzelle hopes his players will take away from the volunteer experience.

"We were created to serve others. Hands down," Rozzelle said. "You can take that from any vantage point you want — from a faith, spiritual or religious standpoint or just being a good human being. We are here to serve others and anything that we can do to do that is what we are on this Earth to do. I wished more people would think like that. For our guys, we want to kind of engrain it on them that yes, you are a baseball player and a student athlete, but you have an opportunity to kind of do something bigger than just where you are at. There's a lot more to this life than baseball. We don't want our guys to be defined as baseball players. We want them to be defined as good people, good sons and eventually good husbands and fathers who happened to play baseball."

Rozzelle and his staff are taking the experience a step further and have invited the entire school to "Shuford Night" on Wednesday when the Red Hawks host the Lenoir-Rhyne junior varsity baseball team at Henkel-Alley Field at 6 p.m.

"The kids are so excited about 'Shuford Night,' and they can't wait to go and see the guys in action," Berry said. "We hear about what positions they play and get told stories about whether they won or lost, but the kids are excited and amped up about being able to go out on the field, stand there for the National Anthem and be a part of that with these guys."

Davila and his teammates are excited to have the students come out to the game and see them in a different environment than they are used to.

"I think it'll be really fun," Davila said. "They'll be on the field with us before the game for the National Anthem. They're going to be watching us during the game. It's going to be fun out there."