Field Hockey Game Day 🏑🏒 here in Boone and tonight we welcome a Top 20 program to Jan C Watson Field !
First Touch is at 6pm…
Just spent my five minutes with the visiting Coach and what an impressive Young Lady 👩. Jan Averill (Ay-Fril) has been coaching at Wale Forrest for 33 seasons 👏.
Hopefully the weather is cooperating back on The Hill as Carroll County High School is 75 minutes from hosting the Galax Maroon Tide 🏈🏈
Also, Dakota Walls should be getting ready to rev his engine over at the Kingsport Speedway !
Laiken Burnett and I have quite a history together, created over the past few years. During her Freshman year the now Junior played on all three JV teams and I was there for all but a handful of those games. Watching Laiken play each of the sports made me smile and think about my Baseball hero, Greg Maddux.
Just like Maddux was back in High School, Burnett isn’t going to be the fastest or most gifted athlete so her focus is on being the smartest. Maddux was not offered a single College scholarship yet managed to win 300+ Major League Baseball games because of his attention to detail.
Watching 👀 Burnett was fun for me because you could see the wheels turning and back then it was easy to make her smile by pointing a finger at my Brain 🧠.
Freshman become Sophomores and Burnett continued down the three sport path and this time it was at the Varsity level across the board. Burnett handled the adjustment well, especially considering the difference in talent of the competition and the demands of her Coaches. She also was able to soak in Senior leadership from the likes of Alyssa Ervin and Emma Leath. On the personal side of it, the amount of Love and Respect she has for her Big Brother glows and its harder to get her to laugh in my direction. The relationship between Laiken and her Father is one that dreams are made of.
Fast Forward now and Laiken Burnett is a Junior on a Volleyball team with just one Senior, Aza Petty. Last night, Laiken showed up for a match on a 3-3 team that is trying hard to find its identity. Then in a blink of an eye 👁, Laiken transformed from playing Volleyball 🏐 to leading a team in a match from start to finish.
Watching someone go from trying hard to play a game to controlling the game was nothing short of fun for me. The assists cleared the 40 mark and it wasn’t even the highlight, that was her ability to bend the game with her will.
Laiken Burnett has taken the next step 🚶♂️ and I couldn’t be happier for her and her Family.
Like with any other features, I reached out to others to offer them a chance to share their thoughts –
First Up – Volleyball Coach Cindy Edwards :
Laiken is a Jr. Setter with a lot of ability to control the game our offense runs thur her hands and the decisions she makes setting the ball .
Laiken, last year had great middles to set to who put the ball down this year she has to distribute it all around more including her self as a hitter when she’s on the front row.
Laiken also has been one of those 3 sport athletes who is very smart and knowledgeable because she see everything so well.”
_________________________
From Dad 👨 :
” She loves to compete but most importantly she loves to lead. She can be contagious at times.
She strives to be a great teammate and player.She loves her school. Cherishes being a Cavalier. Loves her family. Loyalty is one of her greatest traits.”
Ladies and Gentlemen – Laiken Burnett is a Thinker and its nice that she’s on our side !
Junior Varsity Softball Coach Alexis Dalton has been hard at work behind the scenes in regards to getting the Softball Alumni game ready for its Moment to Shine.
With that said, let’s talk about the campaign that I call Build a Bridge. That thought up until now has only been in my head but its a great time to type about it.
The Baseball ⚾️ Field and the Softball Field on The Hill are separated by a two lane Highway and maybe a quarter of a mile. There’s so much wrong in the World 🌎 today that I’m not smart enough to understand, let alone fix.
In my thought process while its just a two lane road there are days where it feels like the Grand Canyon. We play are games on the same day and at the exact same times so there is very little opportunity to have crossover relationships.
What would it look like if we could somehow Bridge the Gap, team up, if you will ? Folks, that is precisely what is taking place right now and hopefully we will be for years to come.
One of the fun things we like to do at Cavalier Park on game nights is give scoring updates throughout on both Varsity Baseball and Junior Varsity action 🎬. We do this because we believe that we are on the same team. If one of the Baseball Coaches make their way to our side of the Boulevard we acknowledge them over the PA because we appreciate them taking the time at the end of a long day to support us.
Baseball ⚾️ fans are busy with their own games at the same time so they might not know just how much we care about them.
What is taking place right now is very, very special. The building that is at the Center of this effort will not only serve as an Indoor Hitting Center for decades to come but it will serve as a Shrine to a Community.
The goal from the Softball side of the street is to create between $10K to $15K to go towards the facility. The 34 seats 💺 = $8,500.00 so I like our chances now. Just as important is the fact that 34 people will look at the building and smile because they helped make it happen.
Our next donation level will be just $25.00 and that will be released in the next post 📫.
Glenvar – Over the past decade the Carroll County – Glenvar rivalry just hasn’t been there because in most sports one of the teams has simply dominated the other with Volleyball being the exception. The battle Thursday night was an Instant Classic as the Lady Cavaliers stole a road victory by the slimmest of margins in front of an energetic crowd.
Carroll County (4-3, 2-0 Three Rivers District) captured the night 3-2 (27-29, 19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 15-12) after the teams exchanged big hits across two plus hours.
Carroll County trailed in the opening set 12-6 before running off six straight points to pull even and from there it was as back and forth as it could get. Ali Wright (19 Kills) led the charge from the getgo and the team was in position to claim the opening set at 24-23 when Aza Petty wound up and unleashed a rocket shot for the win or atleast it appeared that way.
Glenvar was able to get to the ball for a second but then it was off to the rafters on the back end of the gym. The ball managed to bounce around up there for what felt like minutes before finally dropping back into play, allowing the home team to tie the score at 24 all. Glenvar would need extra time to capture the opener, 29-27 after CCHS was an unfortunate bad break from being the team leading 1-0.
Carroll County did their best to shake off the tough break during the second set and with a four point run pulled even at 18 but fell into an 0-2 hole after Glenvar closed out the set on a 7-1 run. On the brink of elimination, and ninety minutes from home, nobody could have blamed the team for mailing in the close out set.
CCHS opened up the third set on a 6-0 run and from there they refused to allow Glenvar back into it. Callie Harris (45) continued to pile up Diggs and Laiken Burnett looked like she had been playing the game all her life, finishing the night with 40 plus assists. Petty and Wright took turns pounding the Burnett sets while Raylee Goins was throwing her body to the floor repeatedly in hopes of saving any point. Wright’s laser kill made the score 22-15 and then Brooke Webb added one before Petty sealed the deal at 25-17. Skunk avoided but CCHS was still facing a big climb upward to have a chance to win the match.
The Highlanders led 6-5 in the fourth when the Lady Cavaliers kicked in into overdrive. Wright tied it up with a Kill, sending Harris to the service line and by the time the Junior was finished it was a 13-2. Harris had four Aces during the deciding stretch and the Cavs coasted to a 25-18 victory.
Tied at 2-2, it felt inevitable that Carroll County was on the cusp of a tremendous victory. When a match goes to a fifth set its a race to 15 and its all about who has the momentum.
After playing almost flawlessly for two sets, CCHS made five straight errors and found themselves on the wrong end of a 7-2 score. The night was slipping away quickly but Petty stepped up and led the team because that was Seniors do.
Sophomore Maddie Hyatt pulled the team even at 10-10, finishing up the second climb out of a big hole experience. Trailing 12-11, CCHS strung together the final four points of the night. A bomb 💣 from Wright and an Ace from Harris made it all over but the shouting and trust me, there was plenty of shouting after the final point went up on the scoreboard in the 15-12 closeout.
[ If this was just a Blog Post 📫 I would have a fun thought or two here about what Coach said afterwards but its for the newspaper 📰 so…]
” Again we talk about how hard they play and never give up and that couldn’t be more true than tonight, ” said Head Coach Cindy Edwards. “Being down two sets to none on the road was something else, I couldn’t be more proud of their efforts tonight.”
Carroll County returns to The Hill Tuesday night to host James River while the Junior Varsity gets their turn to head down to Patrick Henry – Glade Springs for a Saturday stuffed full of Volleyball matches ahead of the James River match.
The Junior Varsity team struggled with a hard hitting, jump service player on the Glenvar squad. The Lady Cavaliers fell 2-0 by scores of 25-4 and 25-8. Both sets had a stretch where the team played well, including a 5-3 lead in the second set. Coach Jason Petty continues to work hard with his very young squad.
Photo 📷 Credit – Patti Goins
From here, this story goes to my Partner in Homer’s R US, Allen (Please call me Vern) Worrell. Allen will tweak it and later today you will see it online!
A.S.P.N on The Hill 