I have often referred to the Softball program at Carroll County High School 🏫 as just a Family 👪 thing. Today as I search for words that will do the topic justice, I will expand on ” Our Family ” and the monumental void that has been created by the passing of Coach Tobler.

  Everyone who knew Jeff had a nickname they used for him. Giving someone a nickname is an ultimate show of respect and appreciation in my World 🌎 and I also created a special name for him and it was Tammy’s Husband.

  One of the Pastors touched on this during the service on Saturday. A service that was fit for a King 🤴, one that most of us could only dream about having in our honor.

  We live in a World 🌎 where its fashionable to step on folks, but the number one strength 💪that Tammy’s Husband had in life was the way that he treated his Bride 👰. Yes, Jeff was setting an example for everyone to see – including the Youth he was Coaching and the Parents of said Youth. If ones Goal in Life is to lead by example then God had an Amazing Ambassador in Tobes as many loved to call him.

  Getting back to the Family aspect inside Cavalier Park. It’s very rare that a Head Coach is comfortable enough in his or her position that they openly share their program with their lead Assistant Coach. Anthony Barnes and Kris Richardson come to mind in Boys Basketball 🏀 and Rick Nester runs his program in the same manner. The program belonged to Tobler as much as it did to Nester and everyone involved knew this to be the case.

  To provide a visual aid I will use The Waltons and Waltons Mountain ⛰ as my example. Even though Tobes was younger than both Coach Nester and myself, he was our Grandpa Walton. The Lady 👩 Cavaliers all had two reasons to want to reach first base everytime they came to the plate. The first one is obvious in that it was for the Good of the team and the second was that Grandpa would be waiting to congratulate them on their success

Grandpa Jeff made people around him want to be better versions of themselves. It was a marvel to see 👀 on a daily basis and this was made possible by the lack of ego of Pa Walton. Nester actually coached Tobler back in School 🏫when the lifetime resident was growing up. Their ties go back close to four decades now and Nester has a void to fill as do many members of the Family.

  For the sake of this theme I will play the roll of John Boy in that its my job to tell the story as a narrator. It a tremendous story and to be blessed with a front row seat 💺 and a writing ✍ apparatus (Big Word for me, I hope I spelled it correctly) I am appreciative of my time with this group of people.

  Folks will have to try and fill the void by committee because the void is real. Velvet  Leonard, who is comparable to a third daughter to me, has watched Tobes coach her Daughter Laynie-Jo for roughly half her life. Velvet will try to be there for her Kiddo and someone else will need to be there for Mom 👩.

  Glenn Burnett is everyones favorite Uncle in this story because he has spent his life Coaching and knows the importance of being there for All of the Student Athletes on any given team. His love for the group as a whole will be even more important going forward.

My main Man, Kevin Burress is in the same position as myself as we move forward. Burress is so kind that he even shares Natalie with me in regards to cheering her on from the Press Box 📦 on Game Day. We will be tasked with trying hard to maintain the atmosphere that we have created in the Park while keeping the Memory alive.

  In my mind I will see the First Base Coaching Box as the Jeff Tobler Memorial Coaching Box for the remainder of my time at Cavalier Park.

  Yes, it was tough to fit a square peg into a round hole 🕳 in regards to making it back for the service on Friday afternoon. But while I don’t know exactly how many Friends that I have made in Carroll County over the past four years, I absolutely knew that the ones I had were hurting. The service itself was something special that I will never forget as it took three hours or so to give everyone a chance to pay their respects to a Family that just suffered a huge loss.

  Jeff Tobler was a Man 👨, a Great Big Man and will be missed for years to come and by anyone that was fortunate enough to have spent time with him.

  My Father lived an impressive life and made it to 88 before passing away. When I talk about him to anyone the first thing I mention about his influence on me was he taught me what it means to be a Husband and a Christian ✝️. Jeff Tobler was a Man that obviously was raised in a similar manner.

  I can only hope that Charles Carter and Jeff Tobler 🙏 can share a smile over a cup 🥤of Coffee ☕, maybe even keep an eye on things at Cavalier Park together.

  Tammy’s Husband 💘

Fort Chiswell, Virginia – Carroll County earned the right to defend their 2023-2024 Championship in the Fort Chiswell Christmas tournament after hanging on for a hard fought 49-45 victory over Radford Saturday night.

Bryce Smoot led the offense with 18 points and it was the Seniors ability to hit clutch free throws down the stretch that led the Cavaliers back to the Finals on Monday night. Carroll County will face Pulaski County for a third time this season as the Cougars defeated the host team in the earlier Semi-final game.

Bryce Smoot calmly sank two free throws at 0:10.0 and 0:03.5 remaining to hold off the upset minded Bobcats. Ethan Richardson made his pair from the line at 0:21.7 after Radford had trimmed the lead down to 43-41.

Radford entered the contest as the more athletic team in addition to being bigger than the Cavaliers. Their goal was to slow down the vaunted CCHS fast break and to challenge every 3-point shot attempt. The next goal was to shorten the game by running a deliberate attack when on offense.

Check, Check and Check for the Bobcats as Carroll County was limited to just one made 3-pointer from Isaiah Easter (10 points) and held well under their scoring average on the season. Yet, Carroll County had enough in the tank to keep their record perfect on the season.

  One of the reasons came in the monster 👹 double – double put up by Senior Cody Reece. In addition to scoring 10 points and reaching double figures in rebounds, Reece continued to be in the right place at the right time. Reece capped his yeoman like effort by breaking up the Radford inbound pass on their final possession.

  Easter played wire to wire and end to end. Thirty two minutes of disciplined offense and chasing down a lightning 🌩 quick player on the defensive end.

Carroll County came out of the half with back to back baskets from Bryce Smoot and Richardson to expand the lead to double figures st 27-15. Reece pushed the lead out to 14 by converting one of his many offensive rebounds into a lay-up.

Five minutes of shutdown defense accompanied the 6-0 run 🏃‍♂️ but the knockout punch never came. Radford continued to play physical defense and it eventually started to take its toll on the Cavaliers.

  Bend but don’t break mindset paid off in the end for Carroll County. The best part of the contest with Radford is that it will be the first of three if not four between the teams. Just like the Rocky movies, this one was a slugfest with a guaranteed Trilogy to follow.

Carroll County JV Boys also held off Radford and will now play for the Trophy 🏆in their event on Monday at 2:15 pm. Their opponent will also be Pulaski County for the third time. Unlike the Varsity and its 2-0 mark, Head Coach Jason Stockner and his squad will be searching for their initial victory in the season series.