Southern Miss baseball fans in the ‘Treehouse’ have a bird’s eye view of all the action
Visitors to Pete Taylor Park during the ongoing Conference USA baseball tournament may notice something different jutting above the outfield wall.
No, not the brand new video board towering above left field, though that’s pretty nice, too.
Look a little closer and there’s a gold-topped structure peeking over the deep right-center field fence — an elevated viewing platform built on the roof of a 1985 Toyota T-100 that hasn’t always been there. At least, not in that particular spot.
Originally situated among the row of trucks and tents that make up Pete Taylor’s famed fan hangout, The Right Field Roost, it was first built because the group’s spot was too low on the hill beyond the outfield and they couldn’t see the game over the fence.
Affectionately known as the Treehouse, the structure belongs to Southern Miss fan John Adams, who had to move the it up against the wall out of necessity when large trucks needed passage during the construction of the video board erected in April.
“This all started out with a four-by-eight sheet of plywood on top of this truck in about 2006,” Adams told the Sun Herald. “And it’s grown into this.”
The Treehouse is home to two distinct features frequent patrons of the park will recognize. Two Guatemalan flags are proudly displayed in support of two Golden Eagles who call the Central American nation their home: Brothers Gabe and Rodrigo Montenegro.
The blue-and-white flag, signed by both players, is waved whenever either pick up a hit.
It’s also where the train horn is located. That loud, blaring horn you hear at the beginning of each game, after each USM home run and after every walkoff hit comes from the Treehouse.
It may have seemed even louder for the two months it’s been blasting directly into the striped green turf of Hill Denson Field.
Following Southern Miss’ Saturday loss and ouster from the Conference USA tournament, the temporary landmark will be moved back to its original location at the request of the school.
Adams and company will oblige, knowing they’ve already been granted some immunity from the the Right Field Roost rule book. That was at the behest of the boss of The Pete himself, USM baseball coach Scott Berry, who made life easier for the Treehouse dwellers several years ago.
“For years, every game I would bring it in and bring it out,” Adams said. “I’d take a fork lift and take it off (the truck). But one year in 2016, Scott Berry said, ‘You can leave that out there if you want to.’ So it’s been out here since 2016.”
That means the truck itself has sat in the Roost since 2016 — Adams has the expired tag to prove it.
No matter where it sits, it serves as one of many popular spots in the tradition-rich, pine tree haven in right field. It houses 11 core longtime friends and family members, including Adams.
Matt Miller, Chris Potin, Zack Pace, Randy “Gooch” Kent, Chris Bonner, Scott Bridges, Blake Searle, John Schock and Rob and Kevin Pearson have all long found a home perched in the Treehouse.
