Sunday afternoons with Vickey Ritchie are as good as it gets ! Carroll County Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€… Vickey puts the Special in Special Olympics β™₯

Sharing a Space Camp moment with Mr Greg Talley !

It was wonderful to be back in the Gym at Hillsville Elementary School 🏫.assisting Vickey Ritchie with her Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€ ” Space Camp “.

Due to a series of scheduling issues over the past few months, it had been a hot πŸ”₯ minute since we were in the Gym together and today there was a full house.

The Gang !

The good news is that both Linda and I have safely πŸ™ made it to Durham, ahead of the Medical πŸš‘ Center stay that begins tomorrow.

Watching πŸ‘€ Vickey Ritchie be Vickey Ritchie is in a word, PRICELESS !

Diamonds πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend : Tammy Quesenberry and the resident Ground Hog of Cavalier Park !

Of there’s anyone out there with pictures πŸ“· of the actual Ground Hog that was the Mayor of Cavalier Park that would be what we call a Tremendous Get !

One name that will pop up on a regular basis in the Carroll County High School Softball story will be that of Tammy Quesenberry. Tammy has wore many a Hat πŸ‘’ in connection with Lady Cavaliers Softball, from Coaches Wife to having a daughter who played to having a Granddaughter ( Addie Greene) play in addition to being a driving force in regards to the improvements of the facility over the years.

Part of the challenge in getting a story of this magnitude told correctly is the chronological order and trying really hard to not omit anyone that played a role in the process.

One of the first things that Tammy shared was prior to June 13, 2015 the only restroom 🚻 at Cavalier Park was a Porta Potty and a large Groundhog had taken up residence underneath it.

The stories about how a home Softball game back in 2015 was a must see πŸ‘€ event are included in the story and have been described by many. A photo πŸ“· of that would be a πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™ welcomed gift.

I would like to think that no Groundhogs were injured in this story and I would add that in the screen play version of the story, we would have a Groundhog with Gray whiskers telling stories to his (or hers) grandchildren about the good old days where hundreds of town people would gather at his home for Softball games.

When the little ones would ask for more stories from Papa Groundhog he would say the only disturbing thing about sharing the space with the townsfolk was the gosh awful racket that came from the right arm of Sydney Nester during pregame warm-ups everytime she popped the catchers mit.

Diamonds πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend : Page County High School 🏫 is home to a SERIOUS 1-2 Punch πŸ‘Š in its Coaching Tree πŸŒ³…

Chris Dodson, Alan Knight

The Page County Softball portion of our Book πŸ“– will be titled : Blue Print for Building a High School 🏫 program and will be dedicated to the memory of Mr Roy Clark.

It would be interesting to know how many High Schools in the Commonwealth have produced a pair of future Coaches that would go on to capture SEVEN State Championships each.

Neither Chris Dodson nor Alan Knight are resting on their laurels as both led their 2024-2025 teams made it to the State Tournament. Dodson and his Lady Trailblazers (Basketball) and Knights Lady πŸ‘© Panthers ( Softball) made the Final Eight in the chase for #8.

Knight is eight years older than Dodson so he is closer to the end of the road but both leaders appear to have fuel left in the tank.

There will be plenty of career comparisons between two amazing people who have spent their entire adult lives teaching and coaching our Youth !

Diamonds πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend : Welcome πŸ™ to Rebel Park in New Market, Virginia – the Birthplace of the πŸ’Ίseating area at our Cavalier Park !

Johnny 🍎 Appleseed…

If you are a fan of our efforts with the Stadium Seats πŸ’Ί at Cavalier Park, you might appreciate where the idea πŸ’‘ came from. Exit 264 on I-81 is the answer as its where I worked as a volunteer for the New Market Rebels of the Valley Baseball League.

  You will quickly notice that we had to make serious adjustments due to the fact that Rebel Park has twice the space between Home Plate and the building.

#Teamwork

Β  This project was nothing short of a Blast and that was in large part to the extended time working with Mrs. Tammy Quesenberry. How it took place, from start to finish will be included in the book πŸ“– and it will be the easiest piece for me but the greater goal here is to magnify every part of the Yellow Brick Road that led to the magnificent facility that stands today.

” Cause and Effect ” will be the title of the section on Carroll County High School 🏫 and it will be dedicated to Jeff Tobler.

The goal here is to try and weigh out just how much happened for The Hill because of June 13, 2015.

Diamond πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend : Breaking  down the Goal of Sports Book #4 of 4 !

The 3 Categories….

Diamonds πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend is designed to capture my 40 year βž• relationship with Ballparks.

It will be divided equally into three parts with Part #1 being Carroll County High School Softball program, Page County High School Softball program being Part #2 and the final third being a variety of smaller Baseball ⚾️ tales centered around two decades of time with Skipper Lawrence Nesselrodt.

If a post begins with Diamonds πŸ’Ž are a Girls Best Friend, its letting you know that it will be featured in the book πŸ“–. All other posts will simply start with a title.

Rick Nester and Alan Knight
West Virginia Tech University Baseball