1982 FHS STATE CHAMPS: January 2012

TEAMS TO BE RECOGNIZED

INDUCTION CEREMONIES FOR THE FARRAGUT HIGH SPORTS HALL OF FAME ARE 7 P.M. FEB 1, 2014 IN THE COMMONS AREA.

BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PLAYERS FROM FARRAGUT'S TWO CLASS AAA 1982 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS WILL BE RECOGNIZED AT 6 P.M. BEFORE THE SECOND CLASS OF INDUCTEES ARE ANNOUNCED.

THE SOFTBALL TEAM WON ITS TITLE WITH AN OPENING DAY SWEEP, GIVING FARRAGUT ITS FIRST TSSAA STATE CHAMPION IN ANY SPORT.

THE BASEBALL TEAM HAD TO WAIT A DAY, PLAYING A THIRD GAME, WINNING ITS TITLE MAY 26, 1982, WHICH AT THE TIME ALLOWED FARRAGUT TO BE THE FIRST TEAM TO EVER WIN SOFTBALL AND BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE SAME YEAR.

ADS SNAG FOURTH STRAIGHT STATE TITLE; WHAT'S IN A T-SHIRT?

Farragut captured its fourth straight Class 3-A championship with a 2-0 win over Columbia Friday, May 27, 2011.

The Admirals swept through the tournament, beating Soddy-Daisy 12-3 before dropping Collierville twice (9-6 and 1-0) before taking down Columbia.

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The Ads won their third straight title with 3-1 win over Houston Friday, May 28, 2010 in Murfreesboro.

Hot-hitting junior shortstop Nicky Delmonico (Georgia signee) belted a two-run blast in the bottom of the seventh to break the tie as the Ads (42-6) captured their seventh overall state title.

Lefty Philip Pfeifer (16-0) set a Farragut single-season win record with a one-hit, 12-strikeout performance. The future Vanderbilt hurler tied the state single-season record with the victory. Jeff Glover set the FHS single-season record by going 15-1 as the Ads captured their first state title in 1982.

FHS opened the eight-team tourney with Upper Bracket wins over Clarksville (4-0) and Columbia (4-2) before dropping a 4-0 decision to Collierville.

Pfeifer picked up the save Thursday in a 6-5 rematch win over Collierville, setting up Friday's winner-take-all showdown against Houston, which picked up Lower Bracket wins against Coffee Co. (7-1) and Mt. Juliet (3-1 and 4-3) to bring a 33-12 overall record - and a rested pitching staff - up against the powerhouse Ads.

FHS took a 1-0 lead in the second frame before Houston tallied an unearned run in the fifth to set up Delmonico's heroics.

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LUCKY T-SHIRT?

After the Ads' captured the 2010 district championship, a member of Farragut's first title team hoped to start a new tradition.

Pat Dorwin, leading hitter for the initial championship team, passed along a 28-year-old T-shirt to junior 2B-DH Scotty Miller with the help of FHS P.A. announcer Ralph Skinner.

"Ralph took me down to the field before the game against Powell," Dorwin said. "I wanted to pass on the shirt (which simply says, "Farragut, 1982 Class AAA State Champs") to a player who might wear it under his jersey for a couple of years, then pass it along to a younger player when he graduated.

"I hope the shirt can make it the next 10 years or so, then I can pass it on to my son, Eli, who turns 6 today (June 13, 2010)," said Dorwin.

But it certainly wasn't the shirt that brought FHS its sixth title in the past eight years.

"It probably played no part in the championship," said Dorwin, "so there's certainly no pressure on Scotty or next year's team to win Farragut's fourth state title in a row.

"Of course. a little luck can never hurt," said Dorwin. "I was kinda nervous the whole Powell game, before Ethan Bennett won it with an eight-inning homer."

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Miller made the All-Knoxville Interscholastic team as a rightfielder as a senior in 2011.

Pat Dorwin was an All-KIL pick as a leftfielder in 1982 as a senior, and his brother, Pete, was an All-KIL centerfielder as a senior in 1988 on the Admirals' first state runner-up team.

Miller has passed the shirt onto rising junior Eric Freeman.

"Handle it with TLC, please," Pat Dorwin said.

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?

Super closer Mike Jordan was all set to begin his senior season wearing jersey No. 4, as he had since he made the varsity as a freshman.

Leadoff hitter Pat Dorwin's favorite player was Milwaukee's Paul Molitor, who hit at the top of the lineup and wore No. 4.

Dorwin had bugged Jordan for three seasons to give it up - Dorwin wore 3 as a sophomore on the JV and was given No. 1 as a junior on the varsity - a number he didn't care for and thought about trading it to Scott Wainner for No. 2.

Dorwin took over graduated Scott Johnson's No. 9 in 1982 - but kept pestering Jordan to trade it for No. 4, explaining how Molitor led-off and wore the digit and Milwaukee's Robin Yount batted second and wore No. 19, as did Admiral CF David Mowery.

About five minutes before Farragut's initial game in 1982, Jordan and Dorwin made the swap. Coach Heatherly was less than thrilled - he would have to retype his roster.

But in the end it all worked out. Dorwin felt more comfortable in his favorite number, and was a force from the lead off spot while Jordan didn't seem to bothered by the change - saving a state single-season record 14 games.

The 1982 Brewers? Well, they had to settle for second-best, losing in seven games in the World Series to the Cardinals.

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Scott Miller wore No. 2 for two years on the junior varsity, then No. 3 his junior and senior seasons.

Pat Dorwin had No. 3 on the JV before wearing 1 as a junior and 4 as a senior. Pete Dorwin wore No. 2 in his two varsity seasons.

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1981-One and done

Farragut got the best of Halls in 1982, but the year before the Red Devils ended the Admirals' season in a single-elimination game in the District 3-AAA tourney at Karns.

The Admirals had come into the tournament with a decent seed after posting a 15-5 regular-season mark.

The Red Devils lofted pair of solo home runs on the way to a 3-0 first-inning lead over Farragut senior P-1B Barry Guy.

Pat Dorwin hustled up a double to open the Ads' half of the inning and David Mowery sacrificed him to third, but Farragut's big guns couldn't get any runs in.

Guy, who struggled as a senior after a huge junior season, settled down but Farragut could only muster a couple of runs by Dorwin and fell 3-2.

"We all had the feeling Jeff (Glover) would open the tourney," said Dorwin. "He finished the season much like the roll he went on in '82, including a no-hitter.

"I think we could have made some real noise in the playoffs if we get by that first game. Glover would have pitched next, and if Barry pitched like he could, we probably would have butted heads with Karns and their outstanding top two pitchers, Billy Hatmaker and Jamie Bolinger."

Then what?

"Who knows?" Dorwin said. "Many of the good teams in 1982 were junior-dominated in '81 and we had already beat Bearden at their home field."

State records

According to tbca.org, Admirals from the 1982 team hold several state records.

Pitcher Jeff Glover won 15 games - second-most single-season victories behind 16 by Brantley Jones of Kingsbury in 1966 (and Admirals' Philip Pfeiffer's 16-0 record in 2010 for Farragut). Major-league picher R.A. Dickey and Chandler Ganick also recorded 15 wins.

Mike Jordan's 14 saves are a single-season state record, leading the 10 by Scott Wells of Notre Dame in 1987. Jordan recorded nine saves in 1981, giving him a state record of 23. Jordan also played varsity ball as a sophomore and freshman, so it's possible his career record is even higher.

Pat Dorwin's two triples in a 1981 tie him for a single-game record (during a 4-for-4 performance against William Blount that included a pair of doubles and four RBI's) and his three walks vs. Clinton in the 1982 playoffs is tied for second in most bases on balls in a game. He scored two runs and stole three bases in the Ads' 4-1 win over Clinton that set up the region championship against Bearden.

1982 FHS STATE CHAMPS

TEAMS TO BE RECOGNIZED

TOTAL PAGEVIEWS

PLAYOFFS?

State championship stats

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?

Roster

1981-One and done

ROSTER BY THE NUMBERS

State records