Science Hill High School

Lonnie Lowe

Lonnie Lowe 1962

He probably would've cringed to hear it, seeing how he had no scarcity of swagger, but Lonnie Lowe was a perfect poor man's Steve Spurrier. Lowe shared Spurrier's competitive addiction and flare for the dramatic. They also shared in winning Science Hill's state baseball championship in 1962.

Lowe pitched a two-hit shutout as Science Hill defeated Memphis Messick 1-0 in the championship game in Nashville. Spurrier drove in leadoff man Tom Hager with a first-inning single for the winning run. Lowe also beat Charlotte 13-2 in the quarterfinals.

"Lonnie was a good pitcher," Spurrier said. "He could beat everybody but Kingsport. I think those two games against Kingsport his senior year were the only ones he lost. He might've lost one the year before. I know he didn't lose many. "Winning the state tournament back then felt like winning the national championship. There was only one classification back then."

Gary Scheuerman had many battles with Lowe when they coached at North and South Junior Highs, respectively. They also crossed paths and were teammates some on two of the area's best all-time slow-pitch softball teams (Clark Street and Sherwood).

"Lonnie was very, very competitive," Scheuerman said. "He always wanted the ball when everything was tight. When we were playing softball, he pitched. He'd talk to you until you wanted to hit it back at him, and you couldn't hit one by him."

Lowe was equal parts of style and substance. Science Hill Hall of Famer Grant Trivett remembers Lowe getting called on for a contest at a Tennessee basketball game. He had to make a 3-pointer for two Delta airlines tickets.

"I don't know how they picked him out of the crowd," Trivett said, "but he burned the net. It didn't touch the rim and he had two Delta tickets to somewhere."

In similar fashion, Lowe waited until he was playing with Spurrier and Bob Griese one day at Elk River (N.C.) before making his first hole-in-one.

"Bob Griese and another guy were with us," Spurrier said. "It started raining and lightning sort of popped up and everything, and we went to the clubhouse real fast. So Griese and the other guy said, 'We're going to head on out.'

"I said, 'Lonnie, I'll go back and finish up,' because, you know, back then when you had a hole-in-one you had to finish your round and have a score to make it official. So we went back out and played about the last seven holes really fast."

Lowe became the face of Johnson City athletics. He spent parts of three decades succeeding Howard Johnson as Parks & Rec director, making a staggering impact on facilities and programs.

"Lonnie Lowe had the vision," Science Hill Hall of Famer Grant Trivett said. "He went out there to some land covered with weeds and saw Winged Deer Park. Then he went around and got the city commissioner's votes to get it done.

"Lonnie cared. I saw him give kids money out of his pocket. We lost a good fellow when Lonnie passed away."