Pictured, front row, from left, are: David Dixon, Chris Jones, Mark Gray, Chris Frazier, Tim Jasper, Brian Robinson; second row, from left: Marty Williams, Pat Salyer, Tim Newland, Chris Clolinger, Jody Matney, Chad Cody, Todd Pruett; and third row, from left: coach Mike Ritz, Daran Nottingham, Freddie Neeley, Tony McGaha, Tim Wills, Rick Farmer, Kevin Brickey, coach Bob Waye.
Pictured, front row, from left, are: David Dixon, Chris Jones, Mark Gray, Chris Frazier, Tim Jasper, Brian Robinson; second row, from left: Marty Williams, Pat Salyer, Tim Newland, Chris Clolinger, Jody Matney, Chad Cody, Todd Pruett; and third row, from left: coach Mike Ritz, Daran Nottingham, Freddie Neeley, Tony McGaha, Tim Wills, Rick Farmer, Kevin Brickey, coach Bob Waye.
(Editor’s note: The Times News is taking a look back at the storied athletic histories of Sullivan County’s Central, North and South high schools, which are consolidating to form West Ridge.)
If there was a movie about Sullivan North’s athletic history, the opening scene might look like this:
Fade in to a shot of home plate at a baseball field just off John B. Dennis Highway in Kingsport. It’s early summer on a blue-sky day. Music (“The Smurfs Theme”) begins to play. Jump cut to a panoramic view of the ballpark. Onto the field march The Smurfs.
Except they are golden.
No history of Sullivan North’s 41 years of existence would be complete without telling the story of a team comprising players more likely to wear braces than carry a driver’s license — as former Times News sports writer Bill Lane so wonderfully chronicled.
And now that the school’s athletic program exists only in the pages of newspaper history and the like, the Golden Raiders’ magical baseball run — reaching the state championship round three straight years from 1983-85 and winning twice — will forever stand as defining moments for North athletics.
The front page of the sports section in the Kingsport Times-News on May 28, 1983.
And to think it may never have happened if not for one very fortunate play on April 30, 1983.
THE GENTLE ROLLER
North was a modest 11-10 when it began play in the District 1-AAA tournament. Facing tradition-rich Science Hill, one and done was the Golden Raiders’ most likely scenario. A loss would have capped a nondescript season few would have remembered.
And it wouldn’t have been a vast departure. North wasn’t fed by schools with a dominant athletic tradition. Ketron and Lynn View consolidated to form North, and each made one appearance in the state basketball tournament — Ketron with a spunky guard named Dale Burns in 1965 and Lynn View with deadeye shooter Rodney Arnold in 1977. In football, Ketron reached the state semifinals in 1972.
Baseball programs at those schools didn’t produce any state-level hardware.
And the 1983 North squad, led by coach Mike Ritz, was very young. The Raiders mixed it up against the big boys with six sophomores, two freshmen and a senior.
And that young bunch faced a 3-2 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on third base in the district elimination game against Science Hill. A gentle groundball back to the pitcher could have gone a long way toward sealing the Raiders’ fate. Instead it opened the door for a miraculous postseason run.
Tony McGaha, North’s standout catcher who went on to play in 95 games at Tennessee, recalled the play in a recent interview.
“We were on our way out of the district tournament, but the pitcher threw the ball over the first baseman’s head,” McGaha said. “We wound up winning that game, and it was on from there.”
The Raiders tied the game on that play, then beat Science Hill 4-3 in 10 innings.
THE MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY
North reached the district championship round but needed two games to get past Sullivan South. In the region semifinals, the Raiders battled for 10 innings to earn a 4-3 win over Morristown East. Then they beat South again, winning 8-2 in the region championship.
In a neat little touch, the Times-News printed Sullivan North's championship summary with a headline of "Smurf Box."
In the Class AAA quarterfinals, North edged defending state champion Farragut 6-3 in eight innings.
“We went to UT and played Farragut and brought 10 bus loads of students to the game,” McGaha said. “That made a huge difference.”
Bradley Central was next, and after three rainouts and six days of waiting, the Raiders won the semifinal 3-1.
The Raiders found their backs against the wall once again in the best-of-three championship series at Mt. Juliet. Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning in the first game, Mt. Juliet rallied for four runs and stole the win.
Daran Nottingham threw a four-hit shutout in the second game of the doubleheader and North won 6-0 to force a third contest the following day.
With North’s Freddie Neeley dealing with a sore back, both teams appeared to be out of pitching. But Ritz had an ace — of sorts — in the hole. After the Raiders fell behind 2-0 in the first, Ritz gave the ball to Tim Wills, banking on the senior’s off-speed mastery.
“Tim can be excellent or terrible,” Ritz said after the game in his typical high-pitched voice — and almost surely accompanied by a big smile and his trademark friendly laugh.
On this day, Wills was excellent. He pitched the final six innings, allowing three hits and no earned runs.
“Freddie Neeley threw harder,” Wills said in a recent interview. “I kept you off balance. I was in the right place at the right time.”
North scored three runs in the third and four in the fourth and ran away for an 8-3 victory and the state championship.
1984 AND 1985
North was swept in the finals by Nashville’s McGavock the next year but won the rematch in 1985 in controversial fashion. The teams split the first two games of that series and McGavock — also nicknamed the Raiders — led 4-0 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning of the deciding game. However, McGavock was forced to forfeit the contest because it used a pitcher in excess of the 10-inning, consecutive-days limit.
“They brought in extra bleachers for that game,” McGaha said. “It was amazing to see people in the community come out to support us. We appreciated it.”
The three-year run stands among the greatest team performances in the history of Northeast Tennessee high school baseball. And to think it came from a program that played all of its games in the 1981 season on the road because it didn’t have a home field.
UNEXPECTED SUCCESS
Wills, whose nickname was “Tub,” said it wasn’t a situation where North had a loaded roster and knew it had a chance to dominate the state.
“We had no idea,” Wills said. “It was the oddest thing. That team had chemistry. There was nobody, including Mike Ritz, who thought it could happen. Nobody saw it coming. It was an unbelievable crazy story, like the 1969 Miracle Mets.”
McGaha said it was a special bond.
“The thing about it, those teams were so close as a group of players,” he said. “We all had each others’ backs.”
THE ARCHITECT
Wills said Ritz provided the foundation for the Golden Raiders’ success story.
“He treated everybody like they were his own kid,” Wills said. “He got the best out of them. And he was always jovial, still is to this day.”
McGaha said Ritz was definitely the leader of the group.
“He knew a lot about baseball and the simple things that allowed you to win games,” McGaha said. “He drilled that into us.
“He took us to another level.”
Perhaps one of the best things Ritz did was allow McGaha to call his own pitches from Day 1 as a freshman. All of the experience helped McGaha become very good at it.
“He let us play the game,” McGaha said. “And we did things ourselves, too. We picked up gravel off the field before games. We wanted to get a scoreboard and we had a 100-inning game to raise money for it.”
FOOTBALL HISTORY
The Raiders’ first playoff appearance came in 1994 under coach Coy Harris. They suffered a heartbreaking 14-12 loss to Cherokee, which went on to reach the state semifinals.
In 1995, North bounced back and beat Gibbs and Roane County before losing to Marion County in the quarterfinals.
In 1999, North beat Scott and Carter before falling to Seymour 29-12 in the quarterfinals.
Harris had a playoff record of 5-6.
North had two more football runs under coach Robbie Norris. The Raiders beat South Greene and Chuckey-Doak in 2011 before getting clipped by Austin-East. North was 12-0 on the season before the 19-13 loss to the Roadrunners.
In 2012, North defeated Unicoi County and West Greene before a gut-wrenching 41-38 loss to Elizabethton.
Norris-coached teams were 6-9 in the playoffs.
OTHER STATE APPEARANCES
Cross country — North was team state runner-up in 1991. Mark Caldwell won the individual state title in 1992. Jake Doutt was state runner-up in 1993.
Boys tennis — Adam Nelson reached the state semifinals in singles in 2019.
Boys track — Kevin Boggs won the Class AAA high jump in 1991 with a leap of 6-6. North’s 3,200 relay team won the Class AAA title in 1992. Josh Bentley was the Class A-AA shot put champion in 2004.
Girls track — North athletes won three Class A-AA discus championships: Tasha Painter in 1997 and Misty Copas (1998 and 1999).
Volleyball — North made two state tournament appearances (1996 and 1997).
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