The Seymour Eagles baseball squad is getting to enjoy some of the luxuries that are usually reserved for college and minor league teams with the recent addition of a locker room built adjacent to the dugout at picturesque Don Doyle Field.
Team parents and loyal supporters of the SHS baseball program joined forces to build the 35 cherry laminate lockers complete with benches and a concrete floor in the a room at the back of the dugout which opens up to a full view of the baseball field during this past off-season.
“It’s been a work-in-progress for about a year and a half,” SHS head baseball coach Scott Norman observed. “It’s the end result of a lot of hard work by some local patrons and team parents.”
Norman explained the idea of having the locker room adjoined to the team-dugout was borrowed from local junior college program Walters State.
“I’ve had a hobby since I’ve been in baseball and in coaching to go to different high school and college parks and look at their locker room and playing facilities,” Norman, who once played at Walters State, explained. “The one that I liked the most is right at our back door at Walters State.
“It’s called a walk-in dugout,” Norman added. “One of the things I like the most is it allows you to go right from your dugout into the dressing room. It’s very similar to how they used to do it at old Minor League Parks.
“Me being old and having played in the Minors and at Walters State, it just seemed like it was the thing to do, I guess,” Norman joked.
The SHS coach described the 35 new lockers as cherry laminate with a beautiful finish. He said 30 of the lockers are used by the players and the other five are occupied by coaches.
“It’s just so nice,” said Norman. “It really makes it easier for our guys to be able to go from a game or practice and be able to dress right back into street clothes and not have to wear a muddy uniform and muddy shoes home. The guys seem to really appreciate that.”
SHS senior baseball player Matt Lynam has seen all the recent upgrades to Don Doyle Field in his four-year prep baseball career. He said the new locker room is a big convenience.
“It just makes it 10 times easier,” said Lynam. “I know the players really appreciate the community and all the people that helped build it for the baseball program. It’s something that Seymour baseball players will be able to use for a long time.”
Norman remarked that the local supporter of the SHS baseball team is a main ingredient in what makes the Eagles’ program one of the very best in East Tennessee year-in, year-out.
“We have a lot of great support here in Seymour,” said Norman. “It just goes back to the community of Seymour. It’s a great place to live. It’s a great place to go to school. It’s a great place to work, and it’s a great place to coach baseball.”