Tim Hawkins coached baseball at rival Smoky Mountain in 1997 when Franklin debuted its new baseball field at Macon Middle School.
Over the years since, coaches and community members have added touches to improve the facility, including adding a batter’s eye in center field, a bullpen for the home team and a climate controlled batting cage.
The latest improvement was a new locker room and coaches’ office, which is located inside the same building as the batting cage.
Hawkins, who took over as Franklin’s coach in 2017, and the Panthers moved into the new locker room in mid-February. It allows the varsity to have a separate dressing room, with the JV taking over the old one, which is attached to the home dugout.
“It was much needed,” Hawkins said. “There’s a lot of advantages to having more room, having two teams two separates places to meet to talk about different things. Being new and really nice, it was really good – while it lasted.”
The Panthers enjoyed the larger space and lockers for about a month. The coronavirus pandemic shut athletics down in North Carolina on March 13.
FHS was 3-0 when the season came to a screeching halt. The Panthers did get to enjoy a 27-1 home win over Cherokee on March 12, knowing it could be their final game of the season.
The new locker room features 18 cubbies for players to hang gear, with drawers located at the bottom and shelves up above. The floor is covered with turf, not carpet, to help withstand the rigors of muddy cleats, even though that might more of a rare thing now.
“A lot of times we can go straight to the cage after school after we get dressed instead of walking down the warning track and tracking in mud and dirt, especially with all the rain that happens in February and March,” Hawkins said. “So there are a lot of advantages to it.”
The new locker room features a charging port that can house multiple phones. The coaches’ office is attached to the locker room, with a door separating the two. In it are a large desk, a mini fridge, microwave and chairs.
Softball and soccer have also seen improvements, with more renovations planned for the future.
Upgrades such as these are retention tools, FHS athletic director Blair King said. Because the Panthers can’t recruit, they want to ensure their players want to stick around. Having nice facilities is a key component – for players and coaches.
“We want players to want to play here and coaches to want to coach here,” King said. “Facilities are a big part of that battle. We must invest in these kids if we expect them to invest in our programs and our school. We all know the benefits of athletic participation as it relates to academics.”
Two men who were instrumental in building the baseball, softball and soccer fields at MMS were recognized for their efforts two years ago.
Lewis Penland Sr.’s construction company helped shape the fields. It was renamed the Lewis Penland Sr. Sports Complex in April 2018.
Harley McConnell helped lead a volunteer movement to build the dugouts and press box at the baseball field, along with many other projects. The field was renamed McConnell Field.
FHS senior Haley Freeman was one of many softball players who were excited about the remodel of the softball batting cage, located behind the fence in right field, which is now climate controlled and features multiple hitting bays.
“It’s no nice,” Freeman said. “It’s so much easier to work in a facility like that instead of it being freezing cold.
“There’s a lot of improvements being made and it’s awesome. I just hate that I don’t get to enjoy it that much.”
FHS coach Bobby Bishop said plans are in the works to build a locker room attached to the building that houses the cage. Also in that building, located on the other side from where a locker room might be built, is an office for athletic trainer Lynette Mount.
Franklin didn’t have enough players in its program this spring or last to field a junior varsity team. The plan was to hold softball signups for community league players so youth could get a look at the revamped batting cage, with the hope it will increase interest and grow the program for the future.
The Panthers went to the 2-A NCHSAA Championship in 2018 and finished one win shy of going back to the finals in 2019. So the success is there, and with an upgraded facility, the hope is players’ interest will also grow.
“Hopefully with these upgrades we can attract and retain players to continue to build a successful program,” King said.
Bishop said the field is in great shape thanks to Ryan Raby, who maintains all three fields at the complex when teams aren’t in mid-season and using them.
Bishop has ordered a red pad with a white letter “F” on it, which will be placed on the bricks behind home plate. At some point he’d like to replace the windscreens on the outfield fence and remove the yellow plastic that covers the top and replace it with red or grey.
“The more we can do to make it look better and hopefully one of the better facilities around,” Bishop said, “hopefully the more interested the girls will be to be on a team that has a lot of good stuff.”
The FHS soccer team debuted a new scoreboard a year ago, which coach Dwight Long deemed an essential upgrade.
The team got a custom bench and locker system in their field house, which Long said gives it more of a finished feel.
“The high school staff, with the help of some of our athletes, spent two days team bonding and painting the inside as well,” Long said.
The biggest dream Long has is for an indoor facility to be built for all three teams to use.
Having such a facility would help cut down on the field wear. The soccer field has lost its smooth pitch, Long said, and could stand some leveling and reshaping to provide proper drainage and a smooth playing surface.
“We start conditioning and training in the coldest months of the year. We are blessed with what I call the toughest athletes, but an indoor space would be beneficial to their development in the offseason – and we could rest the field during the season,” Long said. “The indoor space would also provide us the opportunity to train and prepare for all the turf fields we play on during away matches.”
Long had two full teams – varsity and JV – this spring. The rosters are loaded with girls with great attitudes and work ethics, which motivates him to do his best to provide an excellent program.
“I hope when we return from quarantine we get a season so all the members of our community can come out and see how hard these ladies work and play,” Long said. “I would like to continue upgrading the facility matching the passion and work ethic of all the players.”
A possible resumption date for spring sports is May 18, which was pushed back from an April 6 date originally announced by the NCHSAA in March. However, some states have already canceled school for the remainder of the spring.
The NCHSAA also prohibits athletes from using school facilities, such as the fields or cages, likely because of liability concerns.
Hawkins remembers when he first played at the new MMS complex. It was immediately a very nice facility, he said, and it’s only gotten better over the years.
“I think every coach has played a role in keeping it, maintaining it, adding to it and making it better,” he said. “We travel around, and I don’t see many much nicer than what we’ve got.”
King called it the “best-looking field and facility” in Western North Carolina, and possibly the state.
“Why would an athlete want to go anywhere else when they have the best facilities right here in Franklin?” King said.