Volunteer work is important to Central Methodist baseball coach Fred Smith. Recently, his players had the chance to put their mark on the Boonville community, and learn a lesson in the process.

Morgan Matthews plays third base for the Central Methodist Eagles, but he also has skills with a paintbrush.

"Kind of a wax on, wax off thing. Up and down," said Matthews.

Billy Collins knows about ups and downs.

"I've never seen it. This is actually the first train I've ever laid hands on. The inside's got information on how it got here," Collins said.

Just like Billy, who on the inside, also has a story to tell.

"I'm living at Boonville Correctional Center here in Boonville," said Collins.

Collins is an inmate, and has been for more than a year.

"I got caught with some drugs and got a possession charge, so here I sit," said Collins.

One of many not sitting, but working from the back, painting the caboose.

"You kind of think that these guys might have done something big and you kind of get scared about it," said Matthews.

Somewhere along the way, the inmates derailed their lives.

"Good people make bad decisions sometimes, and this is an opportunity for me to give back to a community that I once took from at some time," said Collins.

"They say there is always one mistake that everyone makes in their life. You need to be careful about what mistake you make," said Matthews.

So the inmates and ballplayers work together to make the train look new again.

"They're really good guys.They're nice. They have a lot of good things going for them, coming out and doing community service. They said they won the Sportsman Award last year," Collins said.

The project's concept is simple, to watch your steps.

"One wrong decision can change the rest of your life," said Collins.

While Collins lost more than a year of freedom, the ballplayers gained a lesson, and a brighter outlook for everyone.

"Definitely better than what it was," said Matthews.

Collins plans to go to welding school when the state releases him from prison on November 23. Boonville Correctional inmates also grow food that they donate to the Central Missouri Food Bank and assemble bikes for kids in need.