Last night, our JV Cavaliers played a game over in Stuart against a talented Cougars squad and dropped a 10-1 decision.

Velvet Leonard captured the coaches and the team in their meeting after the game, and Mr DeHaven passed along the final score.

99 times out of 100, I would leave it at that because nobody is required to discuss a game with me after it’s played, but this one is the exception, and I will tell you why.

These ladies and their coaches have had a crazy four day stretch, and there is no way they can not be flat worn out from it.

On Monday afternoon, the team was slated to travel to Tazewell for a scheduled double header and then have a day off before playing again. Instead, the trip over to Tazewell had to be pushed back one day due to circumstances on our end, and the trip was made on Tuesday night.

Terry Warf and Alec Horton coached them up to a victory that night, and Dave Quesenberry drove the bus back to The Hill.

Fast forward to Wednesday now, and Chilhowie High School comes to town to challenge our Nine to a contest.

We dropped that decision, but it’s worth noting 📝 that the game went on for over two hours.

Then, on Day 3, our kiddos woke up and went to school 🏫 and boarded another bus 🚌 and headed over to Stuart, Virginia, to play for a third straight day.

So, while I don’t know everything about what happened with the 10-1 setback or anything for that matter, I know that I’m proud of them for making it to the finish line of a long stretch.

Their parents should give themselves a pat on the back because they were there as well !

Photo Credit : Velvet Leonard

Stuart – Carroll County High School entered the bottom of the third inning at Patrick County Thursday night, leading the Cougars 2-1 but sadly struggled mightily to record the third out in the bottom of the frame, leading to a 13-6 setback.

The Lady Cavaliers did right the ship 🚢 across the final four innings, outscoring their host 4-3, but the damage was done.

The tale of the tape shows very, very similar stats to previous setbacks at home to Pulaski County and on the road Wednesday at Chilhowie. Carroll County swung the bats just as well once again with the final totals there being 14-13 in favor of the Lady Cougars. The defensive side of things was equal with both sides committing just two misques, but the nine spot sticks out like a sore thumb.

It was eight versus Pulaski, four against the Warriors, and the connection between both of those games was it happened in the first inning. Thursday night, it wasn’t until the home of the third inning.

Brooke Webb continues to swing a hot 🔥 bat as the Senior led the way by going 3 of 4 and picking up the lone extra base hit with a double. Twice Webb was able to circle the bases and touch home plate after her hit.

Holly Miller was productive from the leadoff spot, finishing 2 of 4 and reaching a third time on a walk. The Senior scored twice and picked up an RBI along the way. Addie Greene and Laiken Burnett joined Webb and Miller in the multiple hit club by picking up two hits each.

Junior catcher Natalie Burress led the team with two RBI.

Nineteen runners reached base for Carroll County across the seven innings, and a similar number did for Patrick County, but once again, it came down to the ability to bunch them together to create one big inning.

Eight different Lady Cavaliers finished up with a base hit, and the team only struck out five times, so the focus on being aggressive at the plate is clearly working.

The good news for the team is that spring break starts shortly, and with the rescheduling of the contest with Glenvar, the team will have time to reboot after a short break.

To summarize the past two days, we will use a two liter bottle of your favorite soda. You ➗️ pop into nine glasses, and every player has some, but when it’s time to pour the drink back into the jug, we are struggling to do it. Every Cavalier is swinging the bat well and doing what Coach Nester is asking them to do at the plate, but we just can’t make the big inning magic happen.

Thursday night, the Cougars did it one time, and it decided the game because quick math says 13-9=4, and we are describing a 6-4 victory.

These types of back to back losses are more difficult than most because the team was doing their job both times ➖️ the fact that the opponent managed to collect ” that big hit ” which proved to be the difference between a victory and a setback against talented teams.