’74 Dragons reunited, honored during 2024 season
The 1974 baseball Dragons were recognized at Clinton High School’s home baseball game against Campbell County this past season. From left are Steve Graham, Mike Graham, Mark Schwartz, David Stout, Rick Schubert, Charles Butterini, Earl Broadway, Floyd Dye, Rob Ivey, David Queener, Robert Brown, David Fielden, Gary Bailey, Coach Gene Owens and Coach Alvin Taylor.
The 1974 team, coached by Alvin Taylor, was the first Clinton team to win 20 games. That team went 21-10 and won the Region 3 championship with a 3-1 victory over McMinn County.
It recently had a 50-year reunion before one of Clinton’s final 2024 regular-season home games, a 5-2 victory over Campbell County, with all but one of the surviving players taking part.
“We had three guys on that team that passed away,” Taylor said, “We had 13 of 14 players come back. We had one guy miss and we thought he was going to come.
“A lot of these guys hadn’t seen each other in years.” he said. “Of course, they had their class reunions, but if you weren’t part of that class, then you weren’t at that reunion.”
“(Clinton baseball) Coach (Rob) Stacy and the rest of the coaches all helped us make this happen.”
The team made the state finals at a time when the high school baseball landscape was different and all postseason games were single-elimination. Now, all postseason baseball is played in a double-elimination format.
“We went to what is now the Spring Fling,” Taylor said. “We went to the state quarterfinals, and it was different back then. You had to win out.
“You had to win on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to make it to the state. I think that team might’ve been the best team in the state and it was one of our best teams.” he said.
“But I don’t like to compare teams from different eras, because everything is so different.
Back then, those players used wooden bats, so that was different,” Taylor said.
Farragut High recently won a third-consecutive Class 4A state championship. The Admirals went 40-5 and had 16 players who were signed to play college baseball. Coach Matt Buckner, who retired after the 2024 state championship game, said that the 2024 Admirals were the best team in TSSAA history.
And Taylor didn’t necessarily disagree.
“I don’t like to compare teams from different eras,” Taylor said. “But I talked to Matt Buckner and he told me that he had 16 players on his team with college scholarships.
“We had guys on that team [who] went on to play college baseball, but we never had 16 (guys on one team).”
Clinton had eight players from the 1974 team who went on to play college baseball.
Three played NCAA Division I baseball — Rob Ivey for East Tennessee State, Mike Graham for Tennessee and Rick Schubert for Tennessee Tech.
The 1974 Dragons lost 4-0 to Tullahoma in the state quarterfinals. The Tigers went on to beat Knox Central (the defending 1973 state champion).
The 1974 Clinton team was the second team Taylor ever coached and it will always be special to him and the school, he said.
“Those guys just loved to play baseball,” Taylor said. “They loved to play and, quite frankly, they spoiled me. That was my second team. My first year was
1973.”