Baseball team perseveres after fire destroys equipment
By Zoe Blair
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TALLADEGA, Alabama (WVTM) — The Talladega High School baseball team is preparing for its first game of the season next Thursday against Gaylesville, despite a recent fire that caused significant damage to the equipment building.
Robert Duncan, the Talladega High School baseball coach, admires his team’s resilience.
“Just the fact that they’re out here and excited about it in the midst of this,” Duncan said. “Adversity is one thing, but how you respond to adversity now is another thing.”
He noted that the team is “having to go around and scrape up baseballs to get work in.”
The building was full of their cleats, uniforms, baseballs, gloves—everything they need to play a game. Some students are practicing in slides and Crocs and the team is uncertain about which field they’ll call home this season.
Talladega City Schools Superintendent Dr. Quentin Lee described the fire as heartbreaking for both the school system and the students.
“It’s a devastating loss. This is home court, especially for the seniors who want to play their last season at home,” he said. “So we’re just trying to figure out where we go next as far as trying to rebuild, what do we need to do just to keep them on the right path. I do know they’ve reached out to a nearby community, and they’re going to allow us to hopefully play a lot of our home games there until we get this kind of figured out. We’re very optimistic.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it is being treated as a potential arson, according to Lee.
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