DOBSON — Members of the Surry Central Golden Eagles baseball team shared a special tribute to teachers and students during these uncertain times.
The Eagles had to find a different way to get involved in baseball with the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s suspension of all interscholastic athletics still in effect. Under the leadership of coaches Jeff Edmonds and Hank Whitaker, the team created a video reading aloud the famous poem, “Casey at the Bat” written by Ernest Thayer in 1888.
Due to social distancing guidelines, the Golden Eagles couldn’t record the video in the same location. They were able to work around that challenge by having each team member record himself reading a certain passage.
The nine different players reading the poem were seniors Payton O’Rourke, Ethan Leonard, Austin Cave and Dan Snow; juniors Brady Woods and Dawson Payne; and sophomores Brady Edmonds, Kade Norman and Dakota Mills.
The video also featured Surry Central freshman Clay Whitaker as Casey for part of the video.
In an email to local principals, Coach Edmonds stated the following:
“First of all, I want to thank you all for everything you are doing. You all have shown great leadership in how you’ve continuously reached out in such a caring way to not only each one of the students of your schools but also to each of your teachers as well. This has been an extremely difficult and trying period for administrators, teachers, parents, and students alike; and I greatly appreciate how everyone has continued to press on as best they can to make sure everyone is supported and taken care of in every way possible so, a big THANK YOU to you all!”
Sharia Templeton, principal of Dobson Elementary, replied to Edmonds saying, “What a great token of appreciation from our very own Surry Central baseball team…this is fantastic!”
Dr. Travis L. Reeves, superintendent of Surry County Schools, responded with, “Way to go Surry Central High School Baseball! So proud to see the players come together virtually to support our elementary students. Love it! The leadership of the Surry Central High School baseball team and their coaches is to be commended as they fulfilled the goals of our leadership framework to lead themselves, to lead with others to change our world.”
The video can be found on Surry Central’s YouTube channel (SCGoldenEagleSports) or at the following link: https://youtu.be/4eXEGzY6bik
The baseball team’s video wasn’t the only support offered by Surry Central in this trying time. The night of Monday, April 6, Surry Central High turned on the lights over the baseball and softball fields, the tennis courts, the soccer field and track.
Surry Central athletics’ official Twitter page (@TheBigSCSports) posted the following with pictures of the different fields/courts: “In honor of all of our spring sports student athletes, and especially our Seniors, we’re keeping the lights on!”
The account also included the hashtag #BeTheLight, encouraging players to remain hopeful during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com