Telegraph Staff Writer
Former players and current and past coaches and administrators paid tribute to the man Walt Darty said represents Keystone baseball on Feb. 15 at Keystone Heights High School’s Alan Mattox Preseason Classic.
Mattox retired after last season, bringing to an end a 29-year career at KHHS in which he won 466 games. Mattox’s teams finished above .500 in 21 seasons. He guided the Indians to 10 district championships, 17 regional playoff appearances, three regional championships, three Final Four appearances and two state runner-up finishes.
Athletic Director Chuck Dickinson presented Mattox with a plaque that listed those accomplishments as well as Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
The plaque also featured a Mattox saying: “Figure it out. Nobody cares.”
The brief ceremony that took place before Keystone and Fort White played each other also included the announcement of the KHHS hitting facility being named the “Alan Mattox Hitting Facility.”
Mattox, as was the case when he was coaching, chose to downplay his role in whatever the Indians accomplished during his tenure.
“Players make good coaches,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have really good players.”
Fort White Head Coach Rick Julius, who coached alongside Mattox at Keystone, had the name of every player who played for Mattox and the record and accomplishments of every season compiled and framed as a commemorative gift that Mattox unwrapped during the ceremony. Julius had two such mementos created, with the other being presented to KHHS.
In summing up his mentor, Julius recited a quote by John Wooden: “A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”
Mattox was visibly touched by the honors, saying the ceremony was “a little overwhelming and humbling.” He stood in the midst of people who played for him, coached alongside him and worked with him or still work with him (Mattox is still teaching at KHHS).
“There’s no trophy in the world that can replace what’s standing on the field tonight,” Mattox said, looking around him. “I really appreciate all of you people being here.”
He may be retired from coaching, but it’s apparent Mattox isn’t done with the KHHS baseball program. Prior to the ceremony, Mattox was preparing the field for the game between Keystone and Fort White.
Isaac Morford, who had Mattox as a teacher and a coach, and also coached alongside him, said it was no surprise to see Mattox working on the field.
“This man is the best there is,” Morford said. “He coached us all to work so hard. He taught us by doing it himself.”
Darty, a former teacher, coach and athletic director at KHHS, told Mattox, “The most important thing that you brought to Keystone is character and the desire to work hard on the field and off the field.” He then later added, “You are Keystone baseball.”
John Sgromolo, the coordinator of district athletics and development in Clay County, said, “When I think of Keystone baseball, I think of toughness, grit. I think of resilience. I think of integrity. I think of honor. I think of love of the game. Throughout the years, if you watched Keystone play under Coach Mattox, all of those characteristics showed through.”
KHHS Principal Laurie Burke spoke of the impact Mattox tried to make on his players’ lives, saying he approached his role as coach as being about more than the game itself. His goal was to help his players become productive citizens and good family men.
“He’s teaching that through the game of baseball,” Burke said.
Morford related how Mattox started a rec league for younger kids when KHHS didn’t have a junior high team and how he’d drive senior baseball players to Grad Night at Disney World when they had to play a game and couldn’t ride on the bus with the rest of their classmates.
“It was no surprise to me when about a month ago, my daughter came home from school and said, ‘My favorite teacher is Coach Mattox,’” Morford said. “I just had to laugh and smile and say, ‘Yeah. He’s mine, too.’”
