West Virginia Tech University Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball ⚾️ finished up strong but came up just short in the pursuit of Brescia University for the sixth and final spot in the River States Conference post season.
The team was looking to make a second straight trip to Chillicothe, Ohio but suffered back to back heartbreaking 💔 loses to #2 Indiana University – Southeast on the final day.
The team finished up the season by going 10-10 after being swept up in Kokomo, dropping them to 9-16 on the campaign. The stretch included eight contests against ranked teams, including a two game split with #2 in the Nation, Georgia Gwinnett College.
The Flying Eagles opened a close out four game set on Sunday afternoon and Carroll County graduate 🎓 Macie Adkins collected four hits, four runs and five RBIS on the day. The team ended up on the short end of the scoreboard in both contests but by the slimmest of margins.
Adkins pitched in the opener and played centerfield in the second game.
The two teams will play again on Monday to close out the season and for Adkins, her two year career in Cedar Bluff.
Two years ago, Carroll County High School 🏫 headed to Liberty University with a self taught Senior, Elijah Smith and a talented freshman named Corrie Delp.
Last year the number of people that earned a trip to Lynchburg doubled from two to four as Brayden Smoot, Alyssa Ervin and Davis Reitzel joined Delp in representing the Cavalier Nation.
Coach Montgomery was gracious enough to take the time to walk me through the way an Athlete can qualify for the State Meet during the season. There is a pre-determined mark in each event that if a Boy 👦 or Girl 👧 beats, said person can book a seat 💺 on the Bus.
April is about to become May and the Chase for Eight ( double up from four) currently sits at 1. Delp is now three for three in accomplishin the feat and the teams have more events on the schedule
It’s been almost 40 years now since Jimmy Buffett recorded the song 🎵 ” No Plane on Sunday ” and today it fits the mindset perfectly.
Our group of 10 and our Coaches
Indiana University – Southeast was our guest and year in, year out, they run one of the Top programs in the Country. This season was no different and we were in need of a three game sweep in order for our Golden Bears to claim the final post season tournament slot.
We got things underway on Friday afternoon and at no point was the weather going to be our friend. It took over five hours to complete the Game One 7-6 walkoff victory that we will call the Comeback of the season. The rain 🌧 played havoc throughout but the rally in the bottom of the tenth inning was an absolute treasure.
Game 2 was pushed back to 11:00 am on Saturday which created a boatload of problems for the Ceremony portion of the weekend but one just smiles and rolls with it.
When I left Carroll County High School at 9:15 p.m. on Friday night all I had to do was be ready to go at 2:00 pm on Saturday. Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes.
The 21 page script wasn’t ready and not so by a wide margin. But our Baseball ⚾️ team was ready at 11:00 and they were READY at 11:30. IU-SE hung a 5 spot on us and we were down 6-0 in an elimination game.
Dakota Aspinwall, one of our 10 departing players, took the mound and performed in a manner that I hadn’t seen before. Aspinwall held one of the best hitting teams in NAIA scoreless over 4+ innings.
WVU-T couldn’t dent the scoreboard until late and we normally don’t play in front of large crowds but everyone inside of Linda K Epling Stadium was having fun. We pulled within 6-5 and headed into the bottom of the ninth with a chance to repeat the exact same walkoff by the exact same score.
We tied the game at 6-6 and had the bases loaded with just one out. EVERYONE within the sound of my voice knew what was about to happen. The relief pitcher uncorked a wild pitch that took me back to Charlie Sheen as Ricky Vaughn in the original Major League movie.
Skipper Lawrence Nesselrodt sent our runner 🏃♂️ from third base for the win. I will inject that I and my 61 year old body could have limped in to seal the deal on the play.
In our 17 years together, Ness and I have seen enough Baseball to fill a couple of books 📚. Neither of us was prepared for what happened next. The wild pitch was WILD, so much so that it made it all the way to the brick wall behind the plate.
[ While we play in a $3 Million facility, we often talk about the need for padding on that wall.]
The baseball ⚾️ ricocheted perfectly back to the Catcher and all be had to do was apply the tag. Speechless 🙊
We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the 10th with one out but couldn’t score the Golden Run. Marco was dealing from the mound but we couldn’t score the final run. Finally, IU-SE plated five runs in the top of the 13th inning to win the 4 hour 24 minute thrill-a-thon, 11-6.
Never been prouder of the efforts that I saw from our group and the story is just starting. That takes us back tto the song 🎵 mentioned up top – I am still very much in a fog and at some point I have to get back home from Roanoke.
Meanwhile, my dear friend, Lawrence ” Big Picture ” Nesselrodt is on Ebay searching for deals on wall padding.
God is Good, have a Blessed Sunday and we will finish this story sooner than later!
It’s our goal to wear the Uniform the right way, show respect to the game and represent West Virginia Tech University Baseball in the Best way possible.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 