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The baseball scoreboard at Sherwood Park in Morristown have displayed the scores of East High teams for decades, its analogue circuitry sending electricity through bulbs that lit up in a charming vintage glow, but that aging has caused problems and it was decided that a new sign was needed.

With planning spearheaded by the East High Baseball Booster Club and the City of Morristown, and an approximate donation of $42,025 from Southeast Industrial Construction, a new sign should be installed by Morristown Signs before the season begins.

“We were pushing for a scoreboard starting a couple years ago when the existing old one was down for like half of the season,” Booster Club President Bub Martin said. “That was the same sign that was there when I was 15, so that’s been there 40 plus years.”

Southeast Industrial, a strong philanthropic presence in the community, stepped up and volunteered the funds to replace the dated equipment. They will have their logo on the sign next to the city’s logo and the Parks and Recreation Department logo.

The city owns the land and manages it some of the time, with an agreement that East High manages the property most of the year. It’s a non-simple agreement born out of when the city came into possession of the land, but it has not kept its stakeholders from working together to better the field this year.

With donations helping with capital improvements and the school system picking up more of the operating costs of the field, Martin said he’s pleased the booster club is able to offer more support for the athletes. He credited new Assistant Superintendent Matthew Drinnon with helping navigate additional support.

“The big thing is, since we’re getting some help from people like (SEI owner) Kenny (Noah) and we’re getting help from Matt Drinnon, that, basically, the booster club now is going to be able to spend more money on the kids and equipment for them instead of having to spend it on the field,” Martin said. “We were able to buy them a Rapsodo machine, which basically tracks pitching and hitting. (It’s like TV) when you’re watching a baseball game, how they show those data values on there, things like what the spin rate was and the launch angle of the ball.”

He said there’s a lot to look forward this year for Morristown East Baseball. They have 28 players, which is the largest roster for the team in some time, and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding new coach Justin Hite.

“There’s a lot of energy and excitement around the team this year and the coaching staff that (Hite has) assembled. We’re looking to win more games this year and try to build on it.”