Hopefully you have read the Prelude to this by now, regarding Taylor Swift and Peyton Manning.

Steve Combs begins with the 1st of 3 Era’s – Growing up a Cavs Fan !

I entered Woodlawn Intermediate to try for school ball and I made it to the final cuts only to find my name with a line through it. I thought my life was over, how am I going to be a Cavalier when I can’t even be a Raider?

Then Coach Bolen reached out to me and said for me to keep my head up and increase my work on my game and would get to my goal! So a summer of hard work and a lot planning on how I could get on the school team a long year and here we go again with the try outs and I had made the team and my dream to be a Cavalier still had a chance?

Another year had passed and Coach Bolen invited me to tryout for JV and my life couldn’t be any better but Coach Bolen set me down and told me he was sending me back to Woodlawn for my 9th grade season and for me to keep working hard and he would see me next year.

So I was still trying to be a Cavalier (was ever going to happen).Well another year passed and I had one last chance to tryout to be a Cavalier . In my mind I had a week to to earn my spot on the JV team,I had a plan to assure me that I would get to be a Cavalier.

I would out hustle everyone on that field 27 young men showed up and I had to assure myself that none of them wanted it more than I did and it payed off I had finally made it and was a Cavalier and finally received my blue and gray interlocking C’s baseball cap.

Little did I know that I was going to have to out hustle every one every day for the next 3 years to continue to be a Cavalier ! My JV was a great learning year it started in our very first game I didn’t make the starting lineup and was wondering where my part of the team was? Remember where the Curveball was mentioned well I was put in the game in the in the bottom of 6th up by one and the pitch that was called was the hook after 12 pitches and I had loaded the bases I earned a mound visit and Coach Bolen in about 20 seconds he kindly taught me that being a Cavalier was find what takes to succeed and I had about 5 seconds to get with the program.

So I finally got the ball across the dish and this kid hit a line shot to our 3rd baseman and he turned an unassisted triple play and we went on to win by 3 and I learned that to truly be a Cavalier failure was not in the equation !

We had several more lessons on that topic and we were sent on to tryout for Varisty!(Thanks Coach Bolen!)The tryouts finally rolled around and it looked like it was going to be a tough one.

Over 30 showed up and I knew I had to revert back to my original plan and out work every single one on the field and it worked I was still a Cavalier

I had made the top 18. Then the Lessons began first a was assigned to Coach Robin Whittington the Catching Coach he assured me that what I had learned in JV was just a stepping stone and my Baseball IQ was going to get greater after blocking drills and catching assignments I was handed over to Coach Bill Worrell and just being around him gave the assurance that you could do whatever it took and he would do his part to you let succeed in Carroll County Baseball.

I couldn’t start to list the lessons in baseball or the life lessons that these two great Coaches taught me.

Folks, now you have both the prelude and the first Era !

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Era #2

Skip ahead about 10 years of Coaching rec ball,tee ball coaches pitch I ran into Coach Nester (at this time he was Varsity Assistant Coach)his Son Coach Adam Nester and my son were starting minors on and Same team Which began the Combs/ Nester duo and it was amazing how we both had the same plan on how to coach our beginning squad(the same way we had been coached Carroll County Baseball).

We had a 7 year run and Coach Joe Tompkins contacted me to see if I was interested in Coaching for the Middle School team and it didn’t take long to figure out that one not only did

I owe Coach Tompkins for all that he had done for me it was like throw this rabbit in that briar patch and that’s the beginning of the Casey and Combs right out of the gate we were doing great.

The second year not so much but we figured it out and Coach Casey got the call up to JV and I continued coaching the middle school for a total of 12 years and enjoy every minute of it!

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ERA #3 :

By this time Mr. Coach Dehaven was Head Varsity Coach and he asked if I could come by the field house this evening to talk to him. All I could think of is what had I done that was in pleasing to Mr. Coach Dehaven. I wasn’t even close he asked if I would consider moving up to Coach the JV team for him.
When Coach Bolen got wind that Coach Dehaven had named me Head JV Baseball Coach he gave me a call wanted me to know that I was Coaching his team and was to keep the high standards that I had been taught and he would be by to check on me.
When he showed up at one of our Home Games I asked if he would come and talk to my players and I had a proud Cavalier moment and 6 years later as I am trying to type this I just hope that I did him proud!

Then in my present year Coach Burcham asked if I would assist him to Coach the Varsity team with and I said yes just like I had just be proposed to (but I didn’t kiss on the mouth) and just like that Casey and Combs are together again and may God be with us to keep the tradition going!
So to get to the question at hand what Carroll County Baseball ball means to me is that you have on your left and talent on your right a traditional baseball community behind you and a talented Coach in-front of you want the BALL
I WANT THE BALL!!!!

I huge Thank You for every Coach mentioned no way I could be doing what I am doing without you in my life!
Coach Combs

Thank You Coach Combs 🙏 for sharing your thoughts with us from start to now !!

Taylor Swift is continuing her concert tour that will go down in the History Books 📚. It’s the Era’s tour and regardless of which side of the fence you stand on regarding Ms. Swift, there’s no questioning the size of the Tour.

The craze over the Tour led a marketing genius involved with Peyton Manning came up with a shirt that showed the Era’s of Peyton’s career, from the University of Tennessee to Indianapolis and finally Denver.

Probably the coolest T-shirt that I never bought!

That brings us to Junior Varsity Baseball Coach Steve Combs. I am a big fan of the Combs part of Casey and Combs ( anyone that has been reading our site this week already knows how I feel about the front end of the duo) so I was thrilled to see that Coach Combs would be breaking his story down to Era’s!

We were really hoping to catch more Florida League action tonight but the league takes Monday night off. This leaves Tropicana Field as the consolation prize.

Back to Coach Combs and the lead in to his Era’s Tour…

” I Never thought I would be writing anything like this! If you know me at all you don’t mention Carroll County Baseball to me unless you are ready for a long conversation. For me it started at the young age of 9. I had just finished baseball practice at Oakland and the men’s softball league was playing after my practice. My Dad’s team was playing the first game and one of his players had picked up his son from baseball practice and it was picture day for Varsity baseball and he was still in his uniform, so I had to talk to him and find out where he was playing.

He told me all about Carroll County baseball,Coach Worrell, Coach Whittington and how proud he was to be a Cavalier baseball player. At that point I bound and determined to experience what this young man was had let me in on. From this point on Cavalier Baseball was right up there beside the Yankees.( in a nine year olds mine)

Then I realized that one of the players that my dad was playing against had the very same ball cap as the player that I had just encountered,so after the game I had to talk to this guy, this is when I got to know Coach Mike Bolen and he filled me in on the JV program.

From this point on he kept me working my game ( keep that shoulder up,swing it like you mean it, stay in front of the ball and most importantly don’t throw curve balls I will teach you that when you get to me). We will skip 4 years of hard work and determination (only 44 more years to go).”

Folks, this is just the prelude to the story and we love Coach for opening up his Heart !

We will return later with more of the Steve Combs story !

Top 5th, Houston 5, Tampa Bay 1

Adam Nester and Steve Combs.

Steve Combs is currently working on his From the Heart ❤ essay !

Hix Miller has confirmed that he is ready to get started on his as well !

After a stormed out First Day last week, our area Schools 🏫 are ready to swing open the doors 🚪 today.

We want to show support 🙏 for our Administration, support staff and Faculty at each of the Schools 🏫 in our area. Thank You to all that have chosen shaping our Youth as your profession.

Macie Adkins is set to begin her second year of College down at Southwest Community College and we here its time for a Birthday 🎂 celebration ! While it would be impossible to acknowledge everyone on or near their Birthday, we try to keep an eye 👁 👀 (or two) out for those that try to help us along.

Mr & Mrs Adkins did a wonderful job raising Macie and in turn she has set a great example for her little Sister.

Update – Veteran Coach Rick Nester has signed on to take the 8th spot in the Baseball ⚾️ Story !

Have yourself a Blessed Day !

While Mr. Dehaven is not on the Baseball Field in this pic, I must admit that he wears the look of Athletic Director very well !

Following Rod Bryant, Matthew Tompkins and Casey Burcham, its Kevin’s turn at the dish. He steps 🚶‍♂️ into the batters box, knocks the dirt from his spikes, points his bat to centerfield and ala Babe Ruth he has called his shot.

Then DeHaven hits a bomb 💣 off the scoreboard, just like Roy Hobbs in The Natural. Scratch that last part, as AD it would be his job to replace the scoreboard……

In the words of Kevin DeHaven :

As I try to follow the three people before me writing what Cavalier baseball means to me, I have to start from the beginning.

To me to be from one of the greatest brotherhoods, in my opinion, it all is about the love for all players by their coaches and tradition’s. I was a 7th grade student at what then was Hillsville Intermediate school and none other than Coach Rick Nester as the head baseball coach. 

At CCHS we’ve always had a tradition of having excellent catchers. Well, if it wasn’t for Coach Nester I may not be writing this excerpt. He molded me into the catcher that loved the position due to being gritty and a team player. 

He was tough but a great coach and mentor. He expected the most out of each player he coached. Which leads me to talking about one of the greatest coaches at CCHS, Bill Worrell.

As most people that know me, I am tearing up as I type!  Coach Worrell meant the world to me, but I didn’t realize this while I was a player. It wasn’t until later in my life I figured out what he was trying to teach me when I was in high school.

The three people that have written our Cavalier baseball before me have talked about Coach Worrell in some fashion. Now, it’s my turn! 

I had been to CCHS baseball games as a young kid. I had no clue what was in store for me as a player. I do remember Coach Worrell coming to HIS(Hillsville intermediate school)to talk to another player and myself about playing to our 9th grade year. He took the time out of his day teaching to come talk personally to two players he wanted to play up in his program.

That meant the world to me! Even though I started with the JV team, I didn’t care. Coach Worrell wanted me to play in his program!  WOW!  I was jacked!  I was able to play both JV and varsity. 

Long story short, I ended up playing at the varsity level for four year’s.  The trust and belief in a young kid to play at a high level of baseball filled with tradition was unbelievable!  He also allowed me to call pitches, which at that time was unheard of at the high school level. But this was the trust he had in me to allow me to do this.   

Speaking of traditions, Coach Worrell would let his players be themselves. I know Doug McCraw talked at the recent alumni game about making the horseshoe with ball in the middle of it as a superstition!  Well, it continued until I graduated in 1993 ( and after).  

Other superstitions that Coach Worrell instilled was having the same medicine kit, bucket he sat on, and turning our hats around when we won!  I personally loved turning the hats around when we won so people would know who just beat you as we left!  But, we won with class and this was all from the respect and tutelage from Coach Worrell.  This man could just give you a look (not being mean or hateful) and you knew what he was trying to convey to you.

He expected the best out of every player he coached. It didn’t matter if you were a starter or a role player, you knew your role!  This was all because Coach Worrell had established relationships with each and every player and the respect that comes with it.  Talk about respect, Coach Worrell didn’t demand it, it was just the way he carried himself that every player gave and earned it. 

He would make trips to watch former players play at the next level. To take the time out of his schedule to make trips to watch former players at college meant the world to me.  

Now let’s progress to when I started coaching. Thank you Joe Tompkins for asking me to find you a catcher during the spring of 1999!  This gave me the opportunity to start coaching the game

that I truly love. He then gave me

The chance to coach JV baseball as an assistant with Brad Bowman (RIP- love you brother!). Also, thank you Coach Motley for leaving CCHS and coaching boys basketball at Grayson Co, or I may not be writing this letter!  Joe also believed in a young man that ended up being his assistant for several years.

Then for some dumb reason he decided to retire. Well, Mr Thompson allowed me to become only the fourth head coach in CCHS baseball history!  What high expectations. Hopefully I was able to carry on the high level of coaching that the three before me did!  I would be very self-centered if I didn’t thank my family for all the support given to me, all the coaches that coached me and worked with me for their support, the administration at CCHS for allowing me to coach the game I love and last but not least the former players throughout my 26 years of coaching.

I love each and every one of you!  I know the program is in great hands with Coach Burcham!  Current and future Cavalier baseball players work hard , be great, and carry on the traditions  given to you from all the previous players and coaches. Also, Coach Worrell you will never be forgotten!

Thank you for allowing me to ramble on about what Cavalier baseball means to me! 

Coach Combs you’re next!

Coach DeHaven

Coach even took the time to put Steve Combs on the Clock ⏰ !

Instead of limiting the fun to just one or two of the State Championship team to toss out a First Pitch we are going to make a run at getting the band back together !!!

If you or someone you know is a member of the Celebrated team please reach to us. Coach Nester or Coach Dalton or myself as we shoot for the stars in trying to recapture the glory !

A special Thank You to Casey Burcham and Steve Combs for paving the path for us and we cannot wait to acknowledge the duo at our Festival !

All funds raised on October 6, 2024 will go towards the building of an indoor hitting facility to be used by both the Baseball and Softball programs. The facility will allow Carroll County High School Diamond squads to continue to shine for generations to come !!