The story within the story grew again today when I stopped by The Carroll News to say the first rounds of Goodbyes. Allen Worrell remembers the day well and it turns out his beautiful Bride 👰 was only one month away from delivering their baby 👶 boy.
After a series of great seasons that ended short of the Promise Land, Page County High School Softball captured its initial State Championship under Alan Knight.
The school had captured the State Championship back in 1981, the year before Coach Knight took over the program. The victory ended a 33 year drought and set the table for the repeat in 2015.
Kate Gordon led a talented team to consecutive State Championships before taking her skill set to nearby James Madison University in 2016. Gordon played the game at a different level during her years in Shenandoah and would later have the opportunity to showcase her game by helping JMU reach the College World Series during her time in H’BURG.
Softball is a team sport and Gordon was far from being a One Man Band back then and it will be fun to find out how life turned out for everyone involved with 2015.
Head Coach Alan Knight captured State Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2018 with the middle one being the focus for the book 📖.. But there are just as many close calls over the years for the Lady 👩 Panthers.
The team has made it to the State Tournament in three of the last four years with the setback taking place in a different round each time.
The Lady Panthers advanced all the way to the Championship game back in 2022 before falling to Appomattox.
In 2023, it was eventual State Champ 🏆 Tazewell that knocked out Page County in the State semifinals.
After falling in the Regional semifinals in 2024 to Central – Woodstock, Page County returned to the Big Stage in 2025. State runner up King William ended the season in the quarterfinal round.
https://gopsusports.com/sports/softball/roster/player/maddie-gordon
Maddie Gordon played a HUGE role in the 2018 State title in her Freshman year at PCHS and losing a season to Covid kept her from matching the pair of State Championships of older Sister, Kate.
This past season Gordon was one of four former Lady Panthers who performed at the collegiate level.
Four players playing at the next level shows the level of commitment that the players have to the game of Softball and the Page County program.
The gathering of information about the two programs and the effects from that day in June 2015 will be ongoing for months. If you are connected to either program and have a story to share, please reach out !
Carroll County High School Softball had five coaches and 15 players that are officially listed on the team that captured the first ever State Championship back in 2015. Each person on the roster contributed to the landmark victory.
The team as a group is in the CCHS Hall of Fame as well as two of the coaches and four of the players
Varsity Head Coach Rick Nester is still at the helm of the program a decade later but sadly Assistant Coach Jeff Tobler has passed away, with his untimely death taking place last December. The duo coached side by side in a number of situations across the partnership which ended way to soon.
David Quesenberry was part of the staff and worked with the pitching, one of the unquestionable strengths that was magnified by the thrilling 1-0 victory in the title game at Liberty University.
Edwin Tompkins and Cindy Edwards led the Junior Varsity team that season and Edwards is still the Varsity Volleyball 🏐 Coach at Carroll County. Edwards is closing in on 500 victories during her time on The Hill.
The 15 players include four young Ladies that have been voted into the Hall of Fame after their time competing as Lady Cavaliers. Emily Cook was a Freshman Pitcher as was Sidney Nester. The other two were Senior leaders, centerfielder Tiffanie Moore and Shortstop Cheyenne Strickland.
The next group of four were Junior Varsity players that were called up for the post season. Alexis Meredith, Katie McKenzie, Jeannie Utt and Elizabeth Combs. It was Utt that entered the Championship game as a pinch runner 🏃♂️ and came around to score the games only run on the famous ” Pickle Play “. Utt was a sophomore while the other three were freshman.
The balance of the starting lineup included Seniors, Hannah Dalton and Sydney Childress and Juniors, Morgan Tompkins, Gracie Davidson and Kayla Robinson. Sophomores Caitlin Horton and Kendall Hiatt completed the squad.
One of the things to remember is that when you move forward a decade a number of the maiden names have changed after the players became married. One easy one to see is that Alexis Meredith went on to become Alexis Dalton and just finished up her stint as the Junior Varsity Head Coach.
One of the questions that come up when a State Championship game is won is how many horses 🐎 does it take to accomplish the feat ?
I have been fortunate enough to get to meet up with two of the said Horses involved in winning the crown 👑, Moore and Nester. Moore at the family home in Dugspur and Nester during her final season at Marshall University.
Now we know the list of players and coaches that teamed up to secure the initial State Championship for Carroll County High School. The part of the process that will be interesting as we go forward is to figure out how many people are interested in participating in the creation of the story about what happened 10 years ago ???
Carroll County and Page County shared a magical day a decade ago. On the Lady Cavaliers side of things it was a first and nobody should ever forget their first !
The display pictured above is in the main hallway at Cave Spring High and its one of a handful the Roanoke School has on display. Naturally this one makes me smile because its for JJ, who is still my favorite Blue Devil hoopster.
You see it all the time at the College level when a new football or basketball coach takes over. They talk about embracing the history of the program and again I will use a Duke University example. In his first season on the job as Football coach, Manny Diaz invited the three most significant retired Coaches from the program and honored them at a game.
.Then he invited the players who performed for said coaches as the goal is to make anyone who wants to be a part of what you are doing to feel welcome.
Last month Corrie Delp missed tying the school record in the Long Jump by a quarter of an inch on three different days. First at Districts, then at Regional and finally at the State Meet up in Lynchburg.
As I followed the story and willing to admit that I was openly pulling for the rising Senior to set a new mark, I failed to report on who held the current record.
While I try my best to stay away from ranking athletes in any manner, I would have to believe that Mrs Buchanan would be near or at the top of any list of All-Time greats to ever compete on The Hill. I am equally sure that her story has been told many a time over the years but here’s a crazy idea 💡, tell it again.
Carroll County High School competes in a highly competitive Regional tournament across the board and does so against Schools 🏫 that have considerably more resources. We don’t have the ability to go dollar for dollar with the likes if Abingdon, Christiansburg, Glenvar or Cave Spring. If you know that you can’t out spend them, the priority should be to out think them.
Last December, while out at a public High School in Washington state, a bit smaller than CCHS, there was a wall where every single Student Athlete that was currently competing at the collegiate level had an 8×10 color photo hanging with their name and College listed. Ask the families to produce the photo and then return it to them when their career ends. Minimal cost and it allows the current Student Athletes to walk past it everyday.
The reason why I spent so much time trying to track the progress of the College careers this past year was to show the younger players that if you work hard in the classroom and in your sport, then you too can play beyond High School.
Using Laiken Burnett and Holly Miller as examples of current Softball players who might want to play at the next level, its good to let them know that others have done it before them. The same can be said for players under Cindy Edwards as she has four former players currently competing in College. Three in Volleyball and one in LaCrosse.
We have made considerable upgrades at each spot outside over the past two years, once the High Jump area is completed. The bleachers at Tommy Thompson Field, Scoreboard and Stadium seats 💺 at Cavalier Park, seating at Bill Worrell Field and what is fun to call, The Castle 🏰 on The Hill. While a new Track has to wait for another day, the High Jump area answers a glaring need. The addition of the Auxiliary Gym and the Tennis 🎾 teams each held a heartfelt Senior Day ceremony for both teams.
We have new Coaches that have made significant impacts right out of the gate. Seth Greer operates at another level. Adrienne Harris hit the ground running and Casey Burcham might be doing the same job one day at the University of North Carolina. Adam Nester lost ONE game this season – ROOKIES…
Embrace the past, include it / them whenever possible. Burcham with his Alumni game and Anthony Barnes with everything he does with Boys Basketball.
Ashlyn Newman will be playing Soccer for Bluefield this coming season and Alyssa Ervin will be playing Hoops down at Furman. Two of the most successful Cavaliers of All-Time and we should care about how they do at their new Schools.
Crossover support is a conversation for another day. But its an important part of the process. Carroll County High School found a solid amount of success with Trace Reavis placing 10th in Golf ⛳ and Delp placing fourth at Track, Samuel Collins giving West Long his first State Wrestler and Swimming 🏊♂️ sent a bushel of Cavaliers to Richmond. Four young Ladies qualified in Girls Wrestling, football made the post season, Brenden Fariss went to State as did Boys Basketball and Baseball recorded the first 20 win season in school history.
On a personal note 📝, Bryce Smoot passed Tee Jackson on the Boys scoring list. Isaiah Easter made the Timesland First Team and Barnes was tabbed Coach of the Year on the same list.
Include everyone who wants to be part of the effort, highlight the Amazing folks that blazed the trails and focus on what happens to the Student Athletes who are fortunate enough to play at the next level. Just a few things that can be done inexpensively but can fuel the fires it takes to Defend The Hill !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 