Month: June 2026

After a short break to support both Vickey Ritchie and Casey Burcham, it’s back to Star 🌟 City for the conclusion of our coverage of the D3 College World Series

This journey started with three days of coverage ( Thursday, Friday, and Saturday ), and then we hit pause ⏸️ in order to take care of some folks back on The Hill.

Closing in on 1st Pitch ! Covering Carroll County versus Abingdon baseball ⚾️ at 6 pm…. Cavs fall just short, 4-2 but we made sure the Falcons earned it.

Today’s Good Guy 👦 Tip of the Cap goes to Patrick Smith ! One of our leaders / partners in our Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 family !

Both were fun writes ✍️ and now it’s back to the sport of Softball !

Trine versus Redlands, first pitch slated for 11:00 a.m.

Results from Sunday….

Thank you to the Harris family for the ride from Wytheville to Abingdon and back. It was greatly appreciated !

Closing in on 1st Pitch ! Covering Carroll County versus Abingdon baseball ⚾️ at 6 pm…. Cavs fall just short, 4-2 but we made sure the Falcons earned it.

Win and your In for our Burcham Bunch and the homestanding Falcons.

More 2 follow…

Donna Nester Photo 📸
5:54 – 1st Pitch

Batting Order :

#7 – Rakes, Chanson (C)

#1 – Goad, Colby

#12 – Reece, Conner (3B)

#8 – Spencer, Peyton (SS)

#4 – DeHaven, Camden

#3 – Reed, Blake (2B)

#13 – Busick, Dalton (1B)

#14 – Quesenberry, Grady

#16 – Wright, Jaden

____________________________________

5:58 – Middle of 1st, still scoreless

Moment of silence for our Deputy Utt was a classy move by the Falcons

Bottom 1st – Abingdon has two runners in scoring position, but Cavs leave them stranded !!!! End 1st 6:08

6:15 – Middle of 2nd, still scoreless…

Falcons score on a 2-out single, lead 1-0

The second run on a 2-out double. Quick visit to the mound.

6:28 – end of two, trailing 2-0.

6:33 – Middle of the third, Cavs still looking for our first base hit. Busick just missed a leadoff double as the ball went just foul.

Call to the bullpen, now pitching Colby Goad. Falcons have two on with no outs in the bottom of the 3rd.

Softball game just below is still tied 0-0

Falcons – Cougars

Quick Hello 👋 to our friend Allen Worrell, who is following along back home 🏡 on The Hill.

Two runs have scored, and Peyton is now on the bump.

Bases loaded, no outs, and down 4-0. The definition of crunch time ⏲️

D1 came in and went KO, KO, KO – keeping the hopes alive !!!

Goad gives us our first base runner on a HBP and then this happened….

Just like that, it’s only 4-2

Camden, with a 2-out single – Nicholson in to run 🏃‍♂️

Middle of the 4th now (7:06), we trail, but now it’s 4-2.

End of the 4th, still 4-2 at 7:14

Reed leads off the top of the 5th with an infield single but is called out on a bang – bang play at second base. Mid 5th at 7:22 pm, still 4-2

Abingdon strands one in the bottom of the fifth inning (7:28). The Burcham Bunch still has six more outs….

Clay just missed a leadoff home run to left. The outfielder had his back to the fence. Rakes with a single and Gravley in to run for him.

2-out walk brings one of our bash brothers up as the tying run. Can Reece make lightning 🌩 strike twice ?

Reece with a flair to center and now we have runners on second and third. Colton Q to run at second base.

Spencer at the dish ……….fingers crossed

6-3 ground out ends the rally bit Spencer made it a close play at 1st base. [7:39]

7:45 – we head to the top of the 7th inning as there is one last chance for our Cavs!

Leading off – DeHaven….F8

Now batting – Reed…. single to right

Busick – works the count full after 0-2, earns a base on balls.

Our Cavs are batting to the very end !!!

Falcons make their initial pitching change…

#Drama

Grady at the dish with the tying runs on base.

Question on a wild pitch at 0-2, it appeared to his foot. Not called, but both runners advance !!!! A single ties 👔 it

Very tough call on a check swing, VERY tough call. Two outs now

#11 ( Clay)  – 3/0 count, game ends on a 1-3 ground out at 8:01.

More 2 follow !!!

Things to remember about tonight :

  1. We showed up to support our team !
  2. Our team was prepared by a dedicated coaching staff.
  3. We didn’t give up when we trailed 4-0 and they has the bases loaded with no outs.
  4. We were represented incredibly well by our Burcham Bunch
Ryan McCafferty will have you a full-blown gamer later in The Carroll News, and hopefully, we will have the thoughts from Coach Burcham later.

Today’s Good Guy 👦 Tip of the Cap goes to Patrick Smith ! One of our leaders / partners in our Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 family !

Patrick Smith is just another example of what a OneofUs.Care person looks like, and the energy that he brings to our group is magnetic. Most people have the ability to go the extra mile for their own, but it’s harder to find folks who are willing to do the same for others.

One Team….

Everyone who enters Vickey’s world 🌎 has a roll to play, and Patrick provides the broad shoulders. Watching 👀 him yesterday afternoon was easy on the heart ❤️.

Thank you, Patrick !!

Photos from Vickey Ritchie and Samantha Lark Smith.

Turning back the clock ⏰️ to the Grand old Days where we all lived in ” Paul’s World 🌎 “

Paul Nester is the unofficial Luientant Governor of Laurel Fork, Virginia, and we are fortunate to have him around.

Here he is with two of his numerous grandchildren, Ethan Richardson and Landon Phillips. Landon is assisting him with a project out here, and Ethan is holding down the fort for his father 👨, Kris.

Paul Nester is one of the good guys that represents our village in a manner that we can all be proud of !

Great big brother, loving husband and father ➕️ awesome  Poppy to eight grandchildren. All three daughters, their spouses, and little ones are within shouting distance of the village.

Any day that has me cross paths with Paul Nester is a great day !

Next Stop ✋️ Abingdon High School 🏫