Rival coach wishes Tigers success

Seymour’s Norman thinks Pigeon Forge could be in position to win it all chris@theheraldnewspapers.com Scott Norman made a trip to Murfreesboro Wednesday evening and watched the state tournament baseball game with the rest of the Pigeon Forge Tigers’ fans. Norman, the head baseball coach at Pigeon Forge’s county-rival Seymour, became a spectator a couple weeks ago when his District 3-AA Champion Eagles lost to Loudon in a region tournament elimination game. Pigeon Forge then knocked Loudon from the tournament a few nights later in the sub-state round. Norman made the drive to Middle Tennessee earlier this week strictly as a high school baseball fan. He knows what Pigeon Forge coach Larry Cannon is experiencing though. Norman has taken his Eagles team to the state round two times in the past four years, losing each time in the tournament’s early rounds. Norman watched Pigeon Forge defeat Covington 5-2 in a AA tournament game before heading to watch Farragut knock off Ravenwood 3-2 in a AAA contest at a different field. Norman said the Farragut-Ravenwood game was an enjoyable game to watch but the Seymour coach can’t help but to admire what his cross-county rivals are accomplishing. “I’d like to see them win it all,” Norman said of Pigeon Forge. “If they can win today (Thursday) they have a good chance at doing it.” Pigeon Forge went in to Thursday night’s rematch with Covington as the new team to beat in the AA tournament. The Tigers, who advanced to the championship game in 2005, upset Lexington 5-2 in the first round Tuesday to set up the Wednesday win. Pigeon Forge found itself Thursday evening one win away from another state title game. “They’ve had timely hitting and good pitching,” Norman said of the Tigers, whose much-anticipated regular-season match-up with Seymour at Smokies Park was rained out. “Pigeon Forge is a good ball club with some guys who have been there before. “The key is hitting,” the Seymour coach continued. “They didn’t hit the ball that well this year but they’ve gotten hot during the tournament. Their pitching has kept them in it, and timely hitting gives you a chance.” Norman said he feels that Pigeon Forge pitcher/infielder Tyler Cannon, an All-State candidate and University of Virginia signee, is one of the best high school players in Tennessee. “I’ve told numerous people this year that if you had to start a team from scratch, Tyler Cannon would be a good player to start with,” Norman commented. “He can do so many things well. He’s a really good pitcher, a good hitter, and he’ll probably be on the All-State team as a position player. And he’s been there (the state tournament) before, he’s experienced.” Norman said there’s a sort of fraternity among the area high school baseball coaches. They pull for each other to do well, understanding what each other has gone through, and all the work that’s been put in under the radar screen to get through the season. He’s friends with both the coaching staffs at Pigeon Forge and at Farragut. “Us baseball coaches, we stick together. We know how many hours and all of the work that goes into it. People don’t know about all the off-season programs and everything that goes into it. It’s something that has to be in your blood,” Norman said, speaking as both a coach and a fan of high school baseball.”