LET'S PLAY THREE!

May 23, 2015

BASEBALL EVENT RAISES MORE THAN $900

FARRAGUT - ERNIE BANKS WASN'T AT THE BALL PARK AT FARRAGUT HIGH SCHOOL THURSDAY NIGHT, BUT HIS FAMOUS BASEBALL BATTLE CRY "LET'S PLAY TWO!" WAS.

SORT OF.

FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, IT WAS "LET'S PLAY THREE!" AT THE THROWBACK DOUBLEHEADER TO RAISE MONEY IN THE FIGHT TO CURE PARKINSON'S DISEASE.

A TRIPLEHEADER OF GAMES SAW BEARDEN SHUT OUT OAK RIDGE 10-0, CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF KNOXVILLE BEAT GATLINBURG-PITTMAN 10-3 AND THE HOST ADMIRALS DISPATCH GIBBS 5-1.

A SHADE MORE THAN $900 WAS RAISED FOR THE KIME FUND (kimecnd.org),  A KNOXVILLE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION FOCUSED ON FINDING A CURE FOR PARKINSON'S AND OTHER MOVEMENT DISORDERS.

THE EVENT WAS FACILITATED BY PAT DORWIN'S PROJECT 2020 (pdproject2020.blogspot.com), WHOSE GOAL IS TO HAVE 20 VARSITY OR CLUB HIGH SCHOOL PARKINSON'S FUND-RAISING EVENTS BY THE YEAR 2020.

BANKS, THE LATE HALL OF FAME SHORTSTOP-FIRST BASEMAN, MAY HAVE PLAYED THREE GAMES IN A DAY SOME TIME IN THE MINORS OR DURING HIS LONG CAREER IN CHICAGO AS "MR. CUB."

"I'M SURE MR. BANKS WOULD HAVE ENJOYED THE WINNING ATMOSPHERE AT 'THE BALL PARK,'" SAID DORWIN, A FORMER ADMIRAL WHO STARTED THE EVENT IN 2009.

"I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THIS WRETCHED DISEASE WHEN I WAS 38 YEARS OLD," HE SAID. "I'M 50 NOW,SO I HAVE LIVED WITH IT FOR ALMOST A QUARTER OF MY LIFE. I WOULDN'T WISH IT ON ANYONE."

DONATIONS AT THE GATE TO HUNT FOR A PARKINSON'S CURE ARE TAKEN IN LIEU OF AN ADMISSION CHARGE AND THERE ARE LOW-COST FOOD AND BEVERAGES AVAILABLE,

"WE NEED MORE COACHES LIKE FARRAGUT'S MATT BUCKNER TO HELP," DORWIN SAID. "WHEN I FIRST PHONED HIM YEARS AGO AND MENTIONED THE IDEA OF A PARKINSON'S FUND-RAISER, HE HAD NO IDEA WHO I WAS, HE JUST SAID I WAS PART OF THE ADMIRAL FAMILY, SO IT WAS NO PROBLEM TO HOLD AN EVENT."

DORWIN WAS ABLE TO SIT WITH HIS COACH AT FARRAGUT, JOHN HEATHERLY, THURSDAY NIGHT.

"WE TALKED ABOUT OUR RUN TO THE STATE TITLE (FARRAGUT'S FIRST IN 1982, WHICH BROKE A NINE-YEAR DROUGHT OFBASEBALL  CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR THE KNOXVILLE INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE), HOW WE BEAT A TEAM  (CHATTANOOGA BAYLOR) IN THE QUARTERFINALS THAT WAS COMING OFF AN 18-2 WIN, HOW WE WON TWO OF THREE FROM A PREVIOUSLY UNBEATEN MEMPHIS CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TEAM THAT CAME INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 25-0 AND HOW WE FACED SEVEN ELIMINATION GAMES OVERALL - AND WON THEM ALL," DORWIN SAID.

ALTHOUGH THE ADS DIDN'T WIN ANOTHER STATE TITLE UNDER HEATHERLY, DORWIN'S YOUNGEST BROTHER, PETE, WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PARKINSON'S AT AGE 39 IN 2009, PLAYED UNDER THE COACH ON FARRAGUT'S FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNER-UP TEAM IN 1988. THE BROTHERS WERE BOTH ALL-KIL OUTFIELDERS.

"CLASS PROGRAMS LIKE FARRAGUT NEED CLASS COACHES LIKE MATT AND JOHN, AS WELL AS FORMER COACHES TOMMY PHARR AND HERKY PAYNE," DORWIN SAID.

DORWIN ALSO SAT WITH HIS FORMER KNOXVILLE RUGBY CLUB TEAMMATE BRIAN NIEKERK, WHO ALONG WITH HIS WIFE MARIE HAVE ATTENDED THE EVENT FAITHFULLY.

"I TOLD BRIAN WHEN I WAS A SENIOR, I PLAYED A BIT OF SOCCER, JUST BECAUSE I HAD FRIENDS WHO PLAYED AND IT WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF SPORT," DORWIN SAID. "ONE DAY COACH HEATHERLY AND I PASSED EACH OTHER IN THE HALLWAY AND HE LOOKS ME AND SAYS, "'SOCCER, HUH.;"

"LATER I TOLD HIM I PLAYED BECAUSE IT HELPED KEEP MY HAMSTRINGS LOOSE BEFORE BASEBALL PRACTICE."

ON THURSDAY NIGHT, HEATHERLY ASKED DORWIN IF HE KNEW SOCCER WAS INTRODUCED TO AMERICA BY COMMUNISTS, WHO HOPED TO USE THE SPORT TO FURTHER THEIR INTERESTS.

"I PLAYED ALONG WITH HIM AND SAID I DIDN'T KNOW THAT," DORWIN SAID. "LATER ON, HE CONFIDED HE HAD PLAYED THE SPORT AT CENTRAL HIGH IN THE LATE 1960s,"

DORWIN ALSO ALSO THANKED THE PLAYERS, THEIR PARENTS, FANS WHO ATTENDED AND THE FHS DUGOUT CLUB AND ITS OUTGOING PRESIDENT, MATT HAGENOW.

SIDE NOTE: DORWIN AND HEATHERLY ALSO DISCUSSED THE ADMIRALS' 4-1 WIN OVER CLINTON IN THE 1982 REGIONAL SEMIFINALS IN WHICH DORWIN STOLE THREE BASES AND SCORED TWO RUNS.

"I HAD BEEN WAITING TWO YEARS TO GET THE 'DELAYED STEAL' SIGN FROM COACH HEATHERLY. EARLY ON, HE FLASHES IT TO ME WHEN I'M ON FIRST BASE," DORWIN SAID. "I DIDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES, SO I STAYED NEAR FIRST WHEN THE CATCHER TOSSED THE BALL BACK TO THE PITCHER.

"HE GIVES THE SIGN AGAIN AND I STEAL SECOND. I ASKED HIM THURSDAY WHY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GIVE ME THAT SIGN."

"I HAD TO WAIT FOR THE RIGHT TIME," HEATHERLY DEADPANNED.

ADS ROLL TO STATE TITLE TOURNAMENT: FARRAGUT, DEFENDING CLASS AAA TITLISTS, CAUGHT FIRE TO REACH THE EIGHT-TEAM, DOUBLE-ELIMINATION SHOOTOUT.

FHS DROPPED KARNS 10-3 IN A REGIONAL SEMIFINAL, THEN EDGED NEIGHBORHOOD RIVAL HARDIN VALLEY 4-2 IN A REGION TITLE MATCH. A 3-2 SECTIONAL WIN OVER JOHNSON CITY SCIENCE HILL SENT THE ADS BACK TO MURFREESBORO AND A CHANCE TO REGAIN THEIR TITLE.

HARDIN VALLEY ALSO ADVANCED TO THE TOURNEY, WITH A 7-2 WIN AT KINGSPORT DOBYNS-BENNETT.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: WITH THE ADS IN THE UPPER BRACKET AND HARDIN VALLEY IN THE LOWER GROUP, THERE WAS A CHANCE THE EAST TENNESSEE POWERS COULD MEET FOR THE TITLE GAME.

WITH EVERYBODY GUNNING FOR FARRAGUT, THE HAWKS SNUCK UNDER THE RADAR, TAKING THREE STRAIGHT GAMES TO ADVANCE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

FARRAGUT ADVANCED TO 38-6 WITH A 2-0 OPENING ROUND WIN OVER EAST HAMILTON BEFORE FALLING TO HOUSTON 5-1 THE FOLLOWING DAY.

THE ADS CAME TO LIFE WITH THREE STRAIGHT WINS (11-1 OVER RAVENWOOD, FOLLOWED BY 7-2 AND 4-3 VICTORIES OVER HOUSTON) TO SET UP A TITLE MATCH AGAINST THE HAWKS.

HARDIN VALLEY FINISHED ITS PITCHING-RICH TITLE RUN WITH A 10-2 DEFEAT OF FARRAGUT IN THE TITLE MATCH-UP. THE HAWKS ALLOWED JUST FIVE RUNS IN THEIR FOUR TOURNEY WINS.

IT WAS THE ADMIRALS' FIFTH RUNNER-UP FINISH, FALLING JUST SHORT IN 2013, 2002, 2001 AND 1988.

FARRAGUT HAS NINE STATE TITLES INCLUDING ITS FIRST IN 1982 - 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 AND 2014.

OVER THE PAST 33 YEARS, THE ADMIRALS HAVE WON OR FINISHED SECOND FOR STATE TITLES 14 TIMES.



,

ADS TACK ON ANOTHER STATE TITLE

SPORTS HELP FIGHT PARKINSON'S 

Consistency.

Baseball coaches know it's not really a talent but rather an intangible to be worked on practice after practice, hoping it eventually carries over to each game.

Then, if everything jells, you've got a chance at a pretty good season. Then you build from there.

Possibly nowhere in Tennessee has high school baseball reached the consistency it has at Farragut. After winning their ninth state championship in spring 2014 - all but one in the 2000s - the consistency continues.

"I don't think there's much doubt Farragut has been the most consistent team in east Tennessee the last 20 years," said Pat Dorwin, a former Admiral who played on Farragut's initial state championship team more than 30 years ago. "That puts the Admirals up there with being one of the best baseball programs in Tennessee - ever."

Over the past three decades, the Ads have produced nine state champions and four state runner-up squads. State titles came in 1982, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014. Farragut has lost in four title games - 1988, 2001, 2002 and 2013.

"The Farragut baseball program continues to represent our school and community with pride and class," Farragut athletic director Seth Smith said. 

During all those years, the Admirals have had just four coaches: John Heatherly, his longtime assistant Herky Payne, followed by Tommy Pharr getting Farragut back to state title winners, and Buckner, who won two state championships his first two years after Pharr left after capturing two in a row himself, leaving Farragut as the only state Class AAA baseball team to win it all four consecutive years.

"With this past spring's title, Farragut has been state champs, or runners-up, 13 times over the past 32 years," Dorwin said. "That defines consistency."

Farragut is also consistent in its community service, helping raise almost $6,000 over the past five seasons to help find a cure for Parkinson's disease. The event is held each May at the Ads' Throwback Game, where a doubleader is scheduled and the teams wear old-school uniforms with cheap concessions are sold.

"Farragut has an awesome booster club that is the backbone to the success we've had in raising money to fight Parkinson's," Dorwin said.

Dorwin, leading hitter for the Ads and an All-Knoxville Interscholastic League player in 1982, was diagnosed with Early-onset Parkinson's in 2003 at the age of 38, initiated a fundraiser for the National Parkinson Foundation in 2010 at the doubleheader.

"I called coach Buckner out of the blue," Dorwin said. "I told him my idea and he immediately said, 'Sure, we can do it at the Throwback Game.'

"He had no idea who I was," Dorwin said. "He just told me I was part of the Admiral family and they would help in any way they could. There's not many coaches out there that show class like that."

Dorwin's youngest brother Pete, a member of the 1988 runner-up squad and also an All-KIL outfielder, was diagnosed with the disease in 2009 at age 39.

"Pete's gutting it out," said Pat Dorwin. "I would not wish this disease on anyone."

Farragut business women Ellen Hubrig organized the first two events, bringing in vendors and holding silent auctions, Dorwin said. Dorwin then founded Project 20/20, with the goal of 20 area high schools holding fundraisers at sporting events by the year 2020. See www.pdproject2020.blogspot.com for more information.

Dorwin said more than $4,000 was raised the first two years and all the credit goes to Hubrig.

"I was just the unfortunate spokesman," he said.

The 2012 event raised almost $600 and nearly $400 in 2013, as Dorwin had partnered with the Knoxville-based KiMe Fund (www.kimecnd.org) as they focus on raising funds for movement disorders, primarily Parkinson's disease.

"We got back on track in 2014, helped because there was a tripleheader," Dorwin said. "We were able to pass on more than $950 to the KiMe representative at the game."

While Farragut has remained the consistent venue Dorwin said money has been raised at a local high school rugby festival (www.smacrugby.com) and at baseball games at Pigeon Forge, Seymour and Anderson County.

"That's where we need to get more consistent, getting more teams involved, and getting established so the event can become yearly," Dorwin said. "That's the tough part - getting the coaches and athletic directors to call or e-mail you back so you can explain the purpose of the fund-raisers: To get money to the KiMe Fund, which does a great job of finding key places to get money to for helping to cure Parkinson's or just help slow it down."

Dorwin, who also played high-level softball for a long time as well as playing for 15 years with the Knoxville Possums Rugby Football Club, relied on his speed as an athlete, but not anymore because of the way his Parkinson's has progressed.

"I'm slow most of the time. When my medicine works, I can get outside and run around with my kids (Eli, 10, and Addie Grace, 8) and my wife Angie, but the disease has spread from my left side to my right quad in the past 18 months," Dorwin said. "That's caused a new set of problems, so I have to use a wheel chair at times and I fall quite a bit.

"But you carry on. That's why Project 20/20 is so important to me - any donation could be the one that helps me eventually get on even footing to fight back at this disease. It would be great if this release reaches coaches and athletic directors and they set up whatever kind of fund-raiser they'd like. Farragut gives us the gate, which consists entirely of donations from spectators, but not all schools can do that. Baseball is a big sport at some schools, but I would appreciate help from any kind of varsity or club sport."

To contact Dorwin, use the patrugb@att.net e-mail address or phone 865-363-9014.

HISTORY WORTH REPEATING

BY PAT DORWIN

CAN HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF ALMOST 30 YEARS TO THE DAY?

IT CAN IN A FEW WEEKS FOR THE FARRAGUT BASEBALL TEAM.

THE CLASS 3-A PLAYOFFS ARE SLATED TO END MAY 25.

IF THE ADS WIN THE TITLE, IT WOULD BE THEIR NINTH, SOME 10,957 DAYS AFTER ITS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP WIN IN 1982.

THAT MEANS ANOTHER DEEP PLAYOFF RUN IN THE LAST 29 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AND 29 DAYS.

BUT WHO'S COUNTING? WE'LL ROUND UP AND SAY A TITLE OR RUNNER-UP FINISH WOULD BE FARRAGUT'S 13TH IN THE PAST 30 YEARS.

MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE FOR "BASEBALL DOMINATION NATION."

WHAT'S CHANGED IN 30 YEARS?

WHAT HASN'T?

WE WORE SHORTER PANTS AND HAD LONGER HAIR. WE RELIED ON PITCHING AND DEFENSE, TWO KEYS TO THE 2012 TEAM.

"Honestly, I believe we are just as good as some of the best teams to come through the program," said FHS catcher Brett Hagenow. "We may not be as big or athletic as past teams, but our bond and chemistry together makes up for that. We know how each other plays and we will sacrifice anything for each other."

DITTO FOR 1982. WE ALSO HAD AN UNDERESTIMATED INGREDIENT SEEN ON SOME CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS: WE HATED TO LOSE.

AT ANYTHING.

I SEE THAT IN THIS TEAM AS WELL AS A QUIET CONFIDENCE AND A RELAXED MANNER THAT EMANATES DOWN  FROM COACH MATT BUCKNER, ALLOWING PRESSURE TO ROLL OFF HIS PLAYERS' SHOULDERS.

WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT - BECAUSE WE HAD NO PRESSURE ON US. THE KIL HADN'T WON A STATE BASEBALL TITLE IN NINE YEARS BEFORE WE TOOK OUR SHOT. KNOXVILLE WAS A TWO-NEWSPAPER TOWN THEN BUT IT WOULD BE YEARS LATER BEFORE I WOULD READ OUR SEMIFINAL OPPONENT (CHATTANOOGA BAYLOR) WAS COMING OFF AN 18-2 WIN OR THAT OUR BEST-OF-THREE TITLE SERIES AGAINST MEMPHIS CHRISTIAN BROTHERS WAS VERSUS A 25-0 PURPLE WAVE TEAM.

BESIDES, WE HAD JUNIOR PITCHER JEFF GLOVER, WHOSE GAME ONE WIN WOULD PUSH HIS RECORD TO 15-1. WE HAD MIKE JORDAN, WHOSE 14 SAVES THAT YEAR IS STILL A STATE SINGLE-SEASON RECORD.

THE 2012 ADS HAVE PITCHERS APLENTY AS WELL AS A SUPER CLOSER IN JORDAN NEWBY, A SIDEARMER WHO GETS BY MORE ON GUILE THAN VELOCITY.

"Newby is a monster closer," says Hagenow. "He may not have much v-lo but his confidence, endurance, and dedication makes him a force to be reckoned with. He is able to close a game every day if we need him too. He can throw how ever many innings are needed of him. He knows how his pitches work and what he needs to do to be the most effective."

SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER JORDAN, 1982'S MIKE, A FOUR-YEAR VARSITY PLAYER, A RARITY BACK IN THE DAY.

"Eric (Big Red) Freeman has been a work horse for us all year," says Hagenow. "He really comes up big in big situations when we need him. Patrick Raby is also a big part of our program. He is just a freshman and in the next few years he is going to be fierce. Chase Chambers is our sophomore lefty. He throws a lot of strikes and is also a very defensively sound and knowledgeable pitcher. Recently returned Kyle Serrano (back and elbow injury) is a junior with outstanding movement and v-lo. He is going to be a big part of our play off run."

WE HAD TWO JUNIOR LEFTIES IN 1982, GREG SCHWARTZ AND TODD DUNNING, WHO HELD THEIR OWN ON THE FEW DAYS GLOVER DIDN'T START. SHORTSTOP BOB GAYLOR AND CENTERFIELDER DAVID MOWERY EACH STARTED A SINGLE REGULAR-SEASON GAME, AND EACH POSTED ONE-RUN WINS.

AFTER  A VERY EARLY 17-7 DRUBBING IN JEFFERSON CITY, WE MET THE PATRIOTS AT HOME AND MOWERY'S KNUCKLEBALL WAS THE DIFFERENCE.

WE ALSO LOST TO HALLS, KARNS AND BEARDEN IN THE REGULAR SEASON BEFORE EXACTING PLAYOFF REVENGE, STAVING OFF DISTRICT ELIMINATION ON THE SAME NIGHT VS. KARNS, THEN HALLS. WE THEN HAD TO BEAT THE RED DEVILS TWICE TO WIN THE DISTRICT TOURNEY.

WE DID.

WE TOOK ON A TOUGH CLINTON SQUAD IN A SUB-REGIONAL. COACH JOHN HEATHERLY CAUGHT ME BY SURPRISE, GIVING THE DELAYED STEAL SIGN (APPARENTLY, SIGNS NOW COME VERBALLY, BY THREE-DIGIT NUMBERS).

SURPRISED ME ENOUGH TO THINK I MISREAD IT, BUT HE FLASHED IT AGAIN, LEADING TO MY THIRD STOLEN BASE AND SECOND RUN IN A 4-1 WIN.

UP NEXT WAS THE EVIL EMPIRE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS BEARDEN. THEY HAD 6-FOOT-5 MARK SNYDER AND HIS 95-MPH HEATER. HE THREE-HIT US WITH 16 STRIKEOUTS EARLIER AT AN OAK RIDGE TOURNEY GAME THAT RESEMBLED A SPEED-GUN CONVENTION.

WE HAD A PACKED HOUSE AT UT's LOWER HUDSON FIELD IN WHAT ONE PAPER CALLED A BATTLE OF "WEST KNOXVILLE SUPERPOWERS."

WE ALSO HAD CRAIGG SCHNUPP, OUR 5-FOOT-4 THIRD BASEMEN. THE PAPER CALLED HIM "DIMINUTIVE," BUT THERE WAS NOTHING SMALL ABOUT HIS TWO-RUN SHOT OFF SNYDER OVER THE 370-FOOT SIGN THAT TIED IT AT 2-2.

THE BULLDOGS THEN SELF-DESTRUCTED IN THE FIELD.

WE WERE OUT OF KNOXVILLE, WHICH COACH HEATHERLY RIGHTLY CALLED THE TOUGHEST PART OF WINNING THE STATE.

Getting out of town for the Ads starts today in the district tournament at Farragut.

"Honestly if we stay together as a team and execute the tiny things I feel we can make a run for state," says Hagenow. "People have underestimated us all season because we lost big name guys last year. But key guys have stepped up to the plate and our bond with one another will carry us a long way."

PD interview Spring 2011

RUGBY FESTIVAL NETS ALMOST $500

THE MARYVILLE BOYS WERE ONE OF THE PARTICIPATING TEAMS.

KNOXVILLE - PLENTY OF FOLKS DIDN'T MIND A LITTLE CHILLY WEATHER TO SEE SOME RUGBY ACTION SATURDAY, DEC 10, 2011.

THE HOLIDAY RUGBY FESTIVAL AT THE TENNESSEE RUGBY PARK FEATURED GIRLS AND BOYS GAMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. MORE THAN $470 WAS RAISED FOR PROJECT 20/20 TO PASS ALONG TO THE AMERICAN PARKINSON'S DISEASE ASSOCIATION'S NATIONAL YOUNG-ONSET CENTER.

THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED.

EAGLES TO TAKE ON HERITAGE

The Eagles will host a Project 20/20 fund-raiser at 5 p.m. Thursday. April 5 vs. Heritage.

SEYMOUR - It may be frightful outside (or not), but it's about the one time time of year being inside doesn't bother a baseball player.

"The players are working hard in the weight room," Eagle baseball coach Scott Norman said in early December. "They're trying to get a little more zip in their arms and bat speed."

Seymour, coming off an Inter-Mountain Athletic Conference championship in 2011, looks to build momentum for spring 2012 after losing five solid seniors.

"We hope to be competive, we have a pretty good mix of youth and experience," said Norman, heading into his 13th season as Seymour's coach after four years as an assistant to Greg Clark.

The Eagles already have some players who have committed to colleges to continue to play baseball, including middle infielder Ben Whisler (Belmont College) and leadoff hitter and centerfielder Logan Jenkins, who will play at Lincoln Memorial University. Norman said pitcher Tyler Crawford, who also catches and plays third base, has backed off his verbal agreement with LMU to weigh his options.

Norman, like his former South-Young High School schoolmate Mike Guinn, head coach at Pigeon Forge High School, has agreed to do a spring fund-raiser for Project 20/20 to raise money for Young-onset Parkinson's disease.

The Eagles will hold their event at home Thursday, April 5 against Herititage at 5 p.m., Norman said Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Pigeon Forge will host its fund-raiser Monday, April 2, while other teams involved include games at Farragut (April 26) and Anderson County (April 28).

See the http://www.pdproject2020.blogspot.com/ Web site for more information.

Norman, a sixth-round pick out of Walters State by the San Francisco Giants in 1982, has an overall record of 275-99 as the Seymour skipper. The Eagles have made four state tournament appearances during Norman's time at Seymour, including three as head coach. Three state tournament teams have made it to the final four.

The Eagles have won 10 of the past 12 regular-season conference championships, while taking down nine district tournament titles and capturing four region finals.

Norman, who pitched for four years with the San Francisco organization and two in the Cradinals farm system, topped out at the Class AAA Phoenix Giants.

He spent two years as Tennessee Tech's pitching coach before moving to the high school level with Seymour. Norman said Knoxville-area baseball has traditionally been strong over the years.

He's coached former Eagles such as Branden Ketron (Yankees minor-leaguer), Kyle Koeneman (LSU) and Wes Walter, a senior catcher at UT.

"There are some really good coaches in this area that work tremendously hard," Norman said. "I'm just honored to coach a sport I really love in a great baseball community such as Seymour."

ADMIRALS SET THE BAR HIGH

UT SIGNEE A.J. SIMCOX TAKES THE THROW ON A STOLEN BASE ATTEMPT.



FARRAGUT - The Diamond Domination Nation
looks to continue its winning ways.

The Admirals, winners of four straight Class AAA
state championships, expect to play at a high
level again in 2012.

"I am excited headed into the spring, I really like
the makeup and the talent of this team," said
third-year coach Matt Buckner. "If we play the
right way and all come together at the right time,
hopefully we will be able to compete at a high
level."

Farragut's bar for success includes winning the
state championship or finishing as runners-up in
12 of the past 29 years.

Buckner always seems calm and collected and
lets the pressure roll off him, whether its his initial
year as Farragut's coach (in 2010, when he took
over for Tommy Pharr after the Admirals had won
consecutive state championships) or for 2012,
after Buckner won two of his own.

"There are so many things that have to go right to
win a state title, I believe we prepare the right
way, work hard, and compete hard, and as long
as we do those things, I am not really worried
about the pressure of winning," Buckner said.

Senior University of Tennessee signee A.J. Simcox
will power the Admirals' offense.

"He also plays a great shortstop (defensively),"
Buckner said.

Lefty Xander Taylor became Farragut's staff ace in
2011 after star pitcher Phillip Pfeifer was injured,
Buckner said.

Taylor, a Volunteer State Community College
commitment who will miss the 2012 season with a torn labrum, took over for Pfeifer with one-out
in the second inning in the 2011 title bout
against Columbia Central.

Taylor tossed 5.2 innings of no-hit ball (after
Pfeifer hadn't given up a hit in getting his four
outs) and the Admirals won their fourth straight
title with a 2-0 win, finishing at 37-8.

"That's a lot of games (45) to play in a season,"
said Pat Dorwin, the leading hitter on Farragut's
initial championship team in 1982 that finished
26-5 overall.

The Ads will play in a number of tournaments in
2012.

"I believe our offseason conditioning program is
very key to maintaining performance during the
year, our kids are very dedicated to our
program," Buckner said. "We put tons of time into
this aspect of our athletes."

Late in the season, Farragut will hold its annual
Throwback Game, in which players wear old-time
jerseys, donations are accepted in lieu of
admission and food and drink is priced cheaply.

The event is a fund-raiser for Project 20/20,
started by Dorwin with the goal of getting 20
Knoxville-area high school club or varsity sports
to help raise money for Young-onset Parkinson's
disease by the year 2020.

The event is set for Thursday, April 26 as Farragut
meets Karns at 5 p.m. and Oak Ridge and Gibbs
tangle at 7:30 p.m.

"I was diagnosed in 2003 when I was 38 years
old," Dorwin said. "My youngest brother, Pete,
was the centerfielder on the the 1988 team, the
first of four state runner-up squads. He was
diagnosed at age 39."

See the http://www.pdproject2020.blogspot.com/ Web
site for more information. See http://www.fhs1982statechamps.blogspot.com/ for
info on in Admiral state records and a game-by-game look.

Diamond Domination Nation will look to 2012 to
be another successful year for Farragut baseball.

"Our community loves baseball and it continues
to grow. I have really got a first hand look at that
this last year since my son is now playing in the
youth leagues," Buckner said. "These factors
alone definitely continue to contribute to our
success at the high school level."