Taking a break from the Basketball action down in Greensboro I stopped by the Softball field to check in with the Dean of Cavalier Sports. I will state that I have no factorial information to back that Nester is the Senior member of all the current Coaches but in closing out of decade #4, I like my chances on it holding up.

Coach has always been generous with his time and tonight was no exception. Talking to the point that when it was time to drag the infield he was doing it in the dark.

Coach has his first scrimmage coming up on Tuesday and his team is facing more than a couple of challenges. Starting with the fact that the left side of his infield (3B,SS) is currently busy as they get ready for the State Quarterfinals tomorrow night in Pulaski. Lauren Alley and Kaylee Easter are 40% of the starting lineup for Coach Mark Motley’s Girls Basketball team as they look to defend their State Championship.

“I hope that are busy all the way up to the end” Nester said. “We play our first game the day after the State Championship game but its a great problem to have.”

Health concerns and waiting for Winter sports to officially end are just part of the Life of a Spring Time High School Coach. The Junior Varsity team played its first scrimmage on just the third day of practice down in Mt.Airy and will play their final one next week up in Tazewell.

Friday will be an off day for the program as Coach gave his team a choice of having the day off on Friday or Monday to ensure that the Girls can enjoy the upcoming Basketball game in Pulaski County.

A Friday night victory will have the basketball team playing again on Monday evening and then on Tuesday the Softball team will dawn their uniforms for the first time.

Carroll County will be one of four Region Champions hosting a game at a neighboring Gym to their Campus tomorrow night. Lakeland gets underway at 6pm and one hour later the three remaining tilts will get underway.

The tricky part about these contests is the assumption that the “Host” team should win the contest but there’s very little crossover competition during the regular season between the various Regions.

The Spotswood – Carroll County match up is the rare case of a regular season rematch. The Trailblazers and the Cavaliers got together a few weeks ago at a neutral site as part of the Rock the Ribbon event in Lexington. CCHS won the contest in a decisive fashion 67-34 back on January 28th.

The two teams have combined to win 3 out of the past 4 State Titles in Class 3 and this will be the third straight season that one of the teams has ended the post season run of the other team.

While Carroll County and Spotswood have a first hand knowledge of each other the contest between Lord Botetourt and Liberty Christian Academy will have sent the Coaching staffs in search of scouting reports. The two teams have a common opponent in the Cavaliers. LCHS fell to Carroll County by 30 on February 25th in the Regional final while LCA dropped a 34 point decision to the Cavs back on February 4th in Salem.

Liberty Christian Academy (20-5) has won six straight since the loss to Carroll County and Lord Botetourt (19-8) will be playing its first game since the Region defeat.

Another common opponent for the two teams is Franklin County. LBHS took two out of three from Franklin County while LCA won its only game versus Franklin County 42-35 back on January 3rd.

One more thing that gives hope to the fans of the Bot Cavaliers is the minimal Bus trip that will be required to head over to the University of Lynchburg.

Momentum is on the side of the Bulldogs as they are coming off an impressive victory over Spotswood on Saturday evening, 56-39. The victory was fueled in large part by an 18-0 closeout by LCA after falling behind 39-38 early in the final period.

Carroll County and Liberty Christian Academy are coming in as Region Champions but to move on to face one another they will need to fend off a quality opponent tomorrow night 🌙.