Golf team came in 3rd today in a Three Rivers match at Botetourt Country Club.

Thank You to our AD, Kevin DeHaven for sending along the information !

Enlarged view of the CCHS scores, with the Top Four of six counting towards the team total.

Trace Reavis led the Cavaliers by carding a 79 !

We will do our very best to keep up with the Golfing Cavaliers all season long.

Solid Start to the season…

There’s just two ladies inside the ropes here that have the title Mama in front of their names. Mama Petty on the Volleyball 🏐 side and Mama Smoot.

This photo here is one of oh so many that Mr. Turner has taken over the years and it certainly tugs at one’s heart strings. 💘

We suffered some Ship 🚢 to shore difficulty for a minute or two which delayed our #8 hitter, Rick Nester, from sharing his thoughts on the impact that a Coach the caliber of Bill Worrell can have not only on a playing career but a Life….

Here are the words of Coach Nester:

Jerry has asked me to give my thoughts on Carroll County baseball and the legendary Coach Bill Worrell.  Thinking on this, this is not going to be easy to do with the memories and connection to Coach  Worrell and others.

  I’ll have to start with me as a little kid, we didn’t have the levels of little league like they are now.  My first memories of baseball are with my brothers who took me out into the yard throwing to me, hitting BP off of them.  They were willing to take time from their schedules to take their little brother out and play ball.  I’m sure at times, that Mom made them do it! My first organized baseball was with the Laurel Fork team. 

We practiced out in a ballfield behind Laurel Fork Elementary School. And, of course, the coaches were my brother Paul and Howard Webb.  My brother Jerry worked with me numerous hours and a lot of that time was spent on catching, because he was a catcher playing for Coach Worrell and his assistants were Robin Whittington and Mike Bolen.  Catching was my main position all through little league and all the way up. 

I was fortunate that I had an older brother that was a catcher and coached by Robin Whittington who was also a catcher in school and in the minor leagues.  With the help of my family and coaches, I was able to make the school team at Hillsville Intermediate School in the mid 70’s.  Getting to this point,I have to thank my parents for allowing me the opportunity to do this!  Moving forward, my first experience with high school baseball was during tryouts as a 9th grader at Hillsville Intermediate. 

I was trying out for the 9th grade team and after practice, I would go to the high school to catch the activity bus home.  While I was waiting to catch the bus, the JV’s were having late practice in the gym and Coach Bolen came out to have me come in to practice with the JV team.  For a couple of days, I was practicing with the 9th grade and then going to practice with the JV team.  Coach Bolen asked me to join the JV team!

. With those 3 high school coaches there was a tremendous amount of baseball knowledge.  Each coach was considerably different in how they went about working with us and all of the players had the utmost respect for each one of them.  

My JV year, we were very successful.  We lost only 2 games throughout the season.  Summer league began with Coach Worrell and Coach Whittington.  It’s now my sophomore year.  During this time, my family learned that my father had cancer.  Things at home changed because he was not able to be at any activities.  With my father’s health, my Mom was needed at home and my brothers were making sure I could get to practices and games. 

This put a big load on them trying to keep up with the sports schedule.  In my sophomore season, 1977, I made the varsity team as a catcher.  I am on a team with mostly upperclassmen.  We went into, I’m not exactly sure which number game, we were playing Radford at Radford.  I am the backup catcher to senior catcher Jason Semones. 

There is a play at the plate and Jason dislocates his shoulder.  I can remember it just like it was yesterday!  Coach Whittington calls out ,“Nester, suit up!”  Talk about one nervous kid-I was that kid!  That was the start of my catching career through varsity Carroll County Baseball.  In my mind, as soon as Semones comes back from his injury, he will move back into the catching position. 

Coach Worrell had different plans!  He put a lot of faith and confidence into a 15 year old catching on the varsity for the remainder of the season.  Semones did come back after his injury and finished the season playing 3rd base.  During this time, Coach Worrell started taking more time with me than just being a coach. 

He would talk to me often, asking “How are things at home and school?”  His style of coaching was very quiet, but when he spoke you listened.  He very seldom raised his voice.  Each of us players felt like we were playing for the best coaches  in the world…and as we grew and were around different coaches we knew we were!

Moving forward to the winter workouts of 78-79, I’m catching pitchers up in the old wrestling room, we had just finished up a session when Coach Worrell called me over.  I had no idea what this was about.

  We are having a conversation in general and he suddenly tells me that I am going to be calling the pitches this year!  I was scared, honored and thrilled to have this responsibility.  Now, my mind goes to…I do not want to disappoint him.  That mindset of not disappointing him was something that all the players who played for him felt.  We go into the season playing non district games.  At this time, in the New River District there are 9 teams. 

I remember practicing the day before we were to go to North Surry, the last non district game before district play.  Coach Worrell always had a planned out fundamental practice, working on the little things mindset during practices.  They were to the point, with a purpose, working on all skills both physically and mentally preparing for the other team. 

Looking back on this day,  Coach Worrell always wanted to end practice by taking a round of infield.  I’m beside him catching and needless to say, we didn’t have a good practice nor a good round of infield. 

It wasn’t long after that that he called us all into home plate and he introduced us to the steep hill beside the bleachers!  We went to North Surry the next day and I don’t remember the score, but we won!  So now, we are headed into district play.  All players who played for Coach Worrell knew that he was superstitious. 

There was a horseshoe at the dugout before each game. Therefore, because we won after running banks, we ran banks for the rest of the year.  It must have worked because we were undefeated in the New RIver District and became the 1st team to win the district at CCHS.  We go into district tournament as the #1 seed, and we are playing Floyd in the 1st round.  Floyd jumps out on us 10-3 in the middle of the 5th.  We score 1 in the bottom of the 5th and 1 in the 6th.  While the game is going on, yes losing stinks, but that was not in my mind near as much as what was I going to say to Coach Worrell tomorrow if we lose. 

Disappointing him was so much bigger than losing any game.  We go into the bottom of the 7th 10-5 with 2 outs and we score 6 runs to have a walk off win!  Luckily, we didn’t have to have that conversation.

After high school, Coach Worrell continued to help me in so many ways.  He helped me through college and was a huge factor in getting me hired as a teacher/coach in Carroll County in 1984.  I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to play for Coach Worrell and then coach beside  such an outstanding individual-one of the best of all time. 

Looking back at it now, having the opportunity to play baseball in Carroll County has been an honor and a privilege.  The traditions continue and so has the success.  From 1979 to present, there are very few programs that can match the success of CCHS baseball. 

It’s also the class and respect of the game and the opponent that continues.  I have heard many coaches from other programs comment about the excellence that is Carroll County Baseball.  I feel very fortunate to have had the honor to have had a part of this tremendous program.  As the present coach of CCHS Softball, I am striving to produce a program much like Coach Worrell’s.

In closing, I had a player to give me a plaque with the following statement:

A good coach can change a game.  A great coach can change a life!  

Thank you Coach Worrell!

Rick Nester

Thank You Coach Nester 🙏

Photo 📷 Credit : Denise Webb !