Casey Burcham tells us that the honor of hitting the initial Home Run in the history of Bill Worrell Field belongs to Mr. Jim Shockley !

Here are his words……

FROM THE BEGINNING (1970) FIRST CCHS BASEBALL TEAM

                                    Jim Shockley

                  (usually bat #4 but any number is ok – lol)

The 2024 CCHS Alumni Baseball game played recently became very special to me. I was warmly welcomed by some very special people: Chuck Thompson (played football and baseball for his Dad), Casey Burcham, Kevin DeHaven, Brandon Webb, Craig Worrell (much more about his Dad later), and many family, friends, and friendly fans. Many stories and heartfelt memories were shared. The crowd was tremendous as was the large number of Cavaliers turning out to play in the game.

I was also very honored to participate in the first pitch ceremony to start the game along with several other honorees. When I was introduced as a member of the first 1970 CCHS team and as the player who hit the first home run on Bill Worrell Field, I got chills. I looked where the first home run landed in left center, over the road, and into the trees. I looked over at first base, the area I occupied. I looked over at the home dugout and had memories of my teammates, Coaches Worrell and Whittington, my future wife Carolyn Edmonds with her scorebook, and the fun and lessons of that season. I looked at the stands where my Dad and Mom always sat at our games. As I made my throw I realized that what seemed so effortless 54 years ago was not now the case. I know there were also some very sore players Monday morning after the game.

Thinking back to the 1969-70 school year everything was new. New mascot, new colors, new school fight song, new class ring design, new school building that was almost finished except for the gym and some other areas. I was on a committee of Hillsville High School and Woodlawn High School juniors who worked on choices for mascot and school colors. The choices of mascot came down to Colts, Cobras, and Cavaliers (Cavaliers was my least favorite since I was a huge VT fan) and color choices were green / gold, navy / silver, and I think red / white.  The students at each school got to vote and you know the outcome. I got over my disappointment of the choice of mascots and was a proud Cavalier during football, basketball, and baseball seasons and remain so to this day. I am always sure to say Carroll County in front of Cavalier so there is no confusion, though.

I had gotten to know Coach Worrell during football season and as my Advanced PE teacher. He was a good football choice working with Coach Thompson. He was calm, detailed, strict, and fair. He earned the respect of the players. I got to know Coach Whittington during basketball as the JV coach. So when baseball began in February of 1970 I was familiar with our coaches but wondered what they would be like as baseball coaches.

I had played three varsity seasons of baseball for Coach Marty Dowdy at Hillsville High. He and Coach Thompson had an excellent program in the tough New River District that always was in the mix for championships. I remember him taking us over to the CCHS building site my junior year and showing us where the baseball field was to be built. He pointed out where the dugouts would be, where home plate would be located, where the stands would be, etc. It became our “Field Of Dreams” that day as we looked forward to our next season at a new school.

With Coach Worrell and Coach Whittington in charge we began baseball workouts in the gym. At first it was only pitchers, catchers, and first basemen since there were not enough catchers. There was a lot of throwing and running. We ran so many laps around the gym, up the stairs to the balcony, across the balcony, and down the stairs over and over. I had just come from basketball and still I was tired. We were looking forward to getting outside. Once outside as in every sport that year players from Hillsville like myself, David Thorne, Vince Beasley, Gary Hull, and Mike Taylor were joined by players from Woodlawn including Warren Manning, Ricky and Everett Bryant, Onnie Harmon, Dennis Green, Greg Lowe, Mike Hanks, Joe Gardner, Larry Hawks, Billy Turner, Ronnie Isom and Eugene Isom. The task was to come together as the first Cavalier team and to compete for a championship in the tough New River District. Practices were crisp, organized, and heavy on fundamentals. Coach Worrell showed great leadership and knowledge of baseball. Coach Whittington was a great help to us with his knowledge and advice in all areas of the game. They were the Dynamic Duo.

We even had new equipment to use. A pitching machine powered by a gas generator was introduced. I can still remember our manager, Sam Easter, feeding baseballs into the machine and getting very adept at dodging line drives during batting practice (don’t think we had an L screen yet).

We were very well prepared for the season to begin. Brand new Cavalier uniforms were issued. The then New River District was composed of 12 teams and divided into two divisions. We finished with a 6-2 record winning our division and 9-5-1 record overall. We suffered a heartbreaking  3-2 loss in the district championship game to finish the inaugural season as district runner ups. That loss bothers me still. Carroll County High School Baseball was off to a good start.

Coach Worrell’s influence followed me after my high school years. My freshman year in college I missed playing terribly. I stopped by CCHS practice one day to see my teammates still playing. Coach Worrell asked me to stay and chat after practice. He talked with me about becoming an umpire to stay involved with baseball and make some spending money. I liked the idea, took the exams, worked some scrimmages, and became an umpire. My first game was Fort Chiswell at CCHS with many former teammates still playing and my older brother Jack coaching Fort Chiswell. No pressure, right? I continued to umpire for 17 years with the last 7 serving as the New River Baseball Commissioner. I always enjoyed seeing Coaches Worrell and Whittington at their games and catching up.

In 1992 I became the Head Baseball Coach at Blacksburg High School where I had been coaching football and basketball for many years. Many of the techniques I used and lessons I taught I learned from Coach Worrell. Several times I called him for advice. He was always available for me. I tried to model my program after his and after a few tough years we became successful. I was even able to get two former CCHS players, Jason Kilbourne and Brian Webb to help me as assistant coaches while they were attending VT and Radford University. It was always strange to compete with my old coaches but we always enjoyed it and had some great games. It was also good to be with Coaches Worrell and Whittington at district and regional coaches’ meetings. Later on I got to compete against Coach Nelson and Coach Tompkins. All the CCHS coaches were great in sharing scouting reports and helping out one another. CCHS Baseball has always been a class operation.

After Coach Worrell’s retirement in 1994 he taught me another valuable lesson. He would show up at games where his former players were coaching or college games where his players were playing.

One day when he showed up in Blacksburg for a game, I got the PA microphone and introduced him to the crowd. I told them how much he meant to me and that he was one of the top coaches ever in Virginia. Following his example, I went to see former players of mine playing in college at Virginia Tech, Radford, Emory and Henry, Roanoke College, and others.

A few years later I was able to attend the ceremonies to retire Coach Worrell’s number 21. He fussed at me for missing my baseball practice. I explained to him that my JV coaches were covering practice and being there for his ceremony took priority. He was glad to see me there despite the objections. The hat that I wore to this year’s alumni game was a hat I got at that ceremony. I wanted to honor him.

I was also able to attend the ceremony to name Bill Worrell Field in his honor. I was chosen to be one of the former players to speak. Coach Worrell was always a man that you wanted to make proud of you. I hoped that I did so with my remarks. I miss him and think of him often. He lives on in the lives of all the players he coached with the lessons they learned and with the role model he provided for us. It makes me proud with the way that Coaches Nelson, Tompkins, DeHaven, and now Burcham (along with all the JV and assistant coaches) have continued to maintain the high standards set by Coaches Worrell and Whittington that first year. I feel so lucky to have known Coach Worrell as a teacher, coach, mentor, umpire, opposing coach, and friend.

On the way out I stopped by the baseball record board. After the first season I was listed there several times but obviously no longer there. We used wooden bats. The introduction of aluminum bats really changed the hitting part of the game. Wish we would have had those. There on the board are some incredible stats achieved by some outstanding Cavaliers. Continuing out I drove by to look at the new gym (outside only) remembering the years in high school that neither Woodlawn or Hillsville even had a gym – great to see! Also coming around and looking at Tommy Thompson Field I thought how fortunate I was to play for two coaches so outstanding that their respective fields were named after them. Wow!

In closing, thanks to all for making one of the oldest Carroll County Cavaliers welcome. It is true that you can come home again. I promise more frequent visits in the future. Go Cavs!

Thank You Sir, for taking the time to check in and share your thoughts 🙏