The connection with West Virginia Tech University goes back to 2009 with the School, 2007 with the Coach. Skipper Lawrence Nesselrodt and I first met when we were both mainstays in the Valley Baseball ⚾️ League. Ness is the reason why I ended up owning a Baseball team for just over one year back in Waynesboro, Virginia.
When Ness left the Valley to take over the Baseball ⚾️ program the school was located in Montgomery, WV and we played our home games in a nearby village called East Bank.
The world 🌎 of N.A.I.A Baseball is a different animal and if you have never experienced it, explaining it would be really difficult. Our Athletic Director, Kevin DeHaven played at this level in College back in the day, if memory serves me right.
One thing that is easy to point to as different is just how fluid the schedule is and how hard folks work to get a game played. Second difference is the lack of funding by comparison to a NCAA Power 5 school.
A few years back, WVU-T was gobbled up by the folks in Morgantown, becoming part of the West Virginia University system. Another HUGE change came about when the School relocation took the Campus from Montgomery over to Beckley.
Beckley is New York City by comparison to Montgomery. Great location at the junction of Interstate 64 and 77 in the Mountains of West Virginia. The Golden Bears 🐻 currently play their Home games in a $3M dollar stadium 🏟 with a turfed Field that includes a jumbotron scoreboard (Linda K Epling Stadium) but its been an adventure every step of the way.
Every part of the program up here is an adventure and the people involved all have a lifetime connection to the game of Baseball ⚾️. My role here is whatever needs to be done on a given day, announcing if we are at Home to arranging meals on the road and everything in between.
Lawrence ” Big Picture ” Nesselrodt has a Top Shelf group of people around him, including the man I announce as the Legandery Joe Goddard. Everything about the goals within the Golden Bears 🐻 program is centered around ” Respect the Game” and “Leave it Better than you found it.”
Not sure what all we will attempt to tackle today because there is no off-season in Baseball.
Wednesday – Ferrum
. Thursday – Boone
Friday – Boone / Durham
Saturday – Miami, Florida
Sunday – Harrisonburg
Back home 🏡, Shawn Montgomery and his Cross Country teams will be competing over in the Martinsville area as they begin their end of the year meets. We look forward to sharing those results with you later.
Here’s wishing everyone a Blessed Day !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 