Day: April 25, 2026

Story # 4 of 9 is about Brittany Kinney, Karmen Smith, and young Lady Cavaliers rising to a challenge !

Brittany Kinney is a neat Lady and has a very challenging job at Carroll County High School. Our Junior Varsity Girls 👧 Soccer ⚽️ team didn’t exist two years ago and Middle School Girls Soccer existed in the form of co-ed only.

This leaves Coach Kinney in a unique position, trying hard to search The Hill far and wide for young students who might be willing to add Athlete to the student part. Folks who, more often than not, have no experience with the sport.

Last night, while I was announcing a college baseball game, Mr. DeHaven was up in Buchanan with six of our teams, and he was feeding me live updates.

JV baseball beat James River 6-0
JV softball lost 7-3
JV girls’ soccer is losing 5-0 at half
Don’t have a JV boys score for soccer

That message above made my heart sink just a bit. The kicking Kinney’s were down five, and it was only halftime.

Fast forward to later in the night, and I received the following message from Coach Kinney :

JV Score against James River 5-0.

We really struggled the first half. We are down to 12 due to injuries and absences.

However, at half time, Coach Karmen Smith helped our defense get readjusted. I told the girls to hold them at 5.

We came back out and had an excellent second half. We held James River to 0-0 during that 30 minutes.

I’m definitely proud of them for that.

So thankful for Karmen. She really helped a lot tonight.

Once again, my heart ❤️ is right !!!

Message #2 :

We’ve got three home games this week- not sure what your schedule is like but —-

4/27- JV and V play Patrick at home

4/28- JV only against Abingdon at home

4/29- JV and V play Galax at home

Brittany Kinney is the real deal and the perfect complement to high octane Adrienne Harris McGuire.

Story #3 of Nine touches on the end of the road for the 2025 – 2026 Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball season.

While the day was very much about our Senior Day celebration, we played two games against the Midway University Eagles.

The Eagles are headed to Ohio for the River States Conference postseason tournament, and we threw out the first pitch for the opening game at 12:19.

The start time was pushed back due to the 27-minute tribute to our five seniors.

We dropped game one 12-6 in 3 hours and 28 minutes. The length of the game is relevant only in the setup for the end of the second game.

Around 6 pm, nine hours after the team arrived at Linda K Epling Stadium 🏟, we headed to the bottom of the sixth inning in a seven inning affair, trailing 4-0.

Braedan Pakkala, one of our five seniors, was the starting pitcher for the last game of the season, and he was dealing. The three runs allowed in the first inning were unearned, and after the rough start, the Eagles only plated one run.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, JJ Polvinale led off and reached on an error. Jake Tompkins followed with an infield single and one out later pinch hitter. Maddex Sims delivered an RBI single.

Senior Carson Brown coaxed a walk 🚶‍♂️to load the bases, and Zach Hunt stepped to the plate. Hunt sent a rocket 🚀 to right centerfield, and because of the angle taken by the Eagles centerfielder, there was a question about him bringing down the shot. At one point, it appeared that we had three runners in between third and home for two reasons – one being that Brown had the best angle on the play at first base and the second being Brown is fast! Not sure if he’s Tyler Mackey fast, but certainly fast.

Just like that, a team with nothing to play for and entering their 10th hour at the park had tied the game at 4-4!!!

Hunt made it over to third base and was 90 feet from being the game winning run.

Hunt never made it home, and Pak went back to the mound and added another zero to the scoreboard, but the Eagles would eventually scratch out the game winning run in extra innings.

The outcome was both familiar to the season and a great example of the amount of fight that our Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball team had, even at the very end of an emotional day.

The season is now over, and for five of the young men, their time has in a Golden Bear 🐻 uniform has ended. This group wore the uniform well from start to finish, and they will be remembered for all of the right reasons.

In game one, Ben Palomo made his initial appearance on the mound this season as the Senior has been hampered by a serious back injury. Polomo remained a vital part of the team throughout the season, providing leadership to the younger players and getting to see 👀 him back on the mound was joyful. Ben followed, fellow Senior Andrew Lynch to the mound, and earlier, Senior  Luke Richards took his turn toeing the rubber.

We had ourselves a day ! Would it have been a greater day if we had pulled out the night cap ? Sure, but as we say, it’s always a Great Day to be a Golden Bear!

Hitting in the two hole 🕳 on Saturday is the Burcham Bunch, and know that Varsity Baseball ⚾️ that their way with the Knights of James River Friday night 🌙!

Jead Coach Casey Burcham and his talented team continue to pick up steam as we begin the home stretch of the season !

Thoughts from Coach Burcham :

” I thought Reid and Colby threw a great game. We had our best day offensively on the year. Lot of hard contact by a lot of different players.

Caleb Shaw hit a laser for a HR. Great team effort.”

Equal parts offensive juggernaut and not on my watch pitching as the duo that coached mentioned limited the Knights to just two base hits.

That type of team effort makes the long ride back from Buchanan just a bit more enjoyable !

Congratulations team !

Batting leadoff today is the Nester Nine, and JV Baseball ⚾️ is operating in overdrive ! Cavaliers collected a 6-0 road win at James River Friday night.

Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers Surge Past James River Junior Varsity Knights Thanks To Big Fifth Inning


Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers defeated James River Junior Varsity Knights 6-0 on Friday thanks in part to four runs in the fifth inning. Hunter Gravley singled, scoring one run, Jathan Cox drew a walk, scoring one run, Jace Dolinger grounded out, scoring one run, and Will Motley hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run.

Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers got on the board in the top of the third inning after Eli Busick singled to center field, and Hunter Gravley hit a sacrifice fly, each scoring one run.

Jayden Wright earned the win for Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers. The starting pitcher gave up four hits and zero runs over five innings, striking out five and walking two. Hudson Saunders took the loss for James River Junior Varsity Knights. The pitcher went four innings, surrendering six runs on six hits, striking out two and walking five.

Jayden Wright, Will Love, Hunter Gravley, Eli Busick, Mason Quesenberry, and Bryce Nicholson each collected one hit for Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers. Will Motley, Hunter Gravley, Eli Busick, and Jace Dolinger each drove in one run for Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers. Jayden Wright threw an immaculate inning in the fourth, striking out the side on nine pitches. Mason Quesenberry stole two bases. Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers turned one double play in the game.

Conner Hodges, Colton Payne, Camden Newman, and Noah Horne each collected one hit for James River Junior Varsity Knights. James River Junior Varsity Knights turned one double play in the game.

Carroll County Junior Varsity Cavaliers welcome Patrick County Junior Varsity Cougars on Tuesday for their next game.



Adam Nester
Assistant Baseball Coach
Physical Education/Drivers Education
Carroll County High School