Casey Burcham tells us that the honor of hitting the initial Home Run in the history of Bill Worrell Field belongs to Mr. Jim Shockley !

Here are his words……

FROM THE BEGINNING (1970) FIRST CCHS BASEBALL TEAM

                                    Jim Shockley

                  (usually bat #4 but any number is ok – lol)

The 2024 CCHS Alumni Baseball game played recently became very special to me. I was warmly welcomed by some very special people: Chuck Thompson (played football and baseball for his Dad), Casey Burcham, Kevin DeHaven, Brandon Webb, Craig Worrell (much more about his Dad later), and many family, friends, and friendly fans. Many stories and heartfelt memories were shared. The crowd was tremendous as was the large number of Cavaliers turning out to play in the game.

I was also very honored to participate in the first pitch ceremony to start the game along with several other honorees. When I was introduced as a member of the first 1970 CCHS team and as the player who hit the first home run on Bill Worrell Field, I got chills. I looked where the first home run landed in left center, over the road, and into the trees. I looked over at first base, the area I occupied. I looked over at the home dugout and had memories of my teammates, Coaches Worrell and Whittington, my future wife Carolyn Edmonds with her scorebook, and the fun and lessons of that season. I looked at the stands where my Dad and Mom always sat at our games. As I made my throw I realized that what seemed so effortless 54 years ago was not now the case. I know there were also some very sore players Monday morning after the game.

Thinking back to the 1969-70 school year everything was new. New mascot, new colors, new school fight song, new class ring design, new school building that was almost finished except for the gym and some other areas. I was on a committee of Hillsville High School and Woodlawn High School juniors who worked on choices for mascot and school colors. The choices of mascot came down to Colts, Cobras, and Cavaliers (Cavaliers was my least favorite since I was a huge VT fan) and color choices were green / gold, navy / silver, and I think red / white.  The students at each school got to vote and you know the outcome. I got over my disappointment of the choice of mascots and was a proud Cavalier during football, basketball, and baseball seasons and remain so to this day. I am always sure to say Carroll County in front of Cavalier so there is no confusion, though.

I had gotten to know Coach Worrell during football season and as my Advanced PE teacher. He was a good football choice working with Coach Thompson. He was calm, detailed, strict, and fair. He earned the respect of the players. I got to know Coach Whittington during basketball as the JV coach. So when baseball began in February of 1970 I was familiar with our coaches but wondered what they would be like as baseball coaches.

I had played three varsity seasons of baseball for Coach Marty Dowdy at Hillsville High. He and Coach Thompson had an excellent program in the tough New River District that always was in the mix for championships. I remember him taking us over to the CCHS building site my junior year and showing us where the baseball field was to be built. He pointed out where the dugouts would be, where home plate would be located, where the stands would be, etc. It became our “Field Of Dreams” that day as we looked forward to our next season at a new school.

With Coach Worrell and Coach Whittington in charge we began baseball workouts in the gym. At first it was only pitchers, catchers, and first basemen since there were not enough catchers. There was a lot of throwing and running. We ran so many laps around the gym, up the stairs to the balcony, across the balcony, and down the stairs over and over. I had just come from basketball and still I was tired. We were looking forward to getting outside. Once outside as in every sport that year players from Hillsville like myself, David Thorne, Vince Beasley, Gary Hull, and Mike Taylor were joined by players from Woodlawn including Warren Manning, Ricky and Everett Bryant, Onnie Harmon, Dennis Green, Greg Lowe, Mike Hanks, Joe Gardner, Larry Hawks, Billy Turner, Ronnie Isom and Eugene Isom. The task was to come together as the first Cavalier team and to compete for a championship in the tough New River District. Practices were crisp, organized, and heavy on fundamentals. Coach Worrell showed great leadership and knowledge of baseball. Coach Whittington was a great help to us with his knowledge and advice in all areas of the game. They were the Dynamic Duo.

We even had new equipment to use. A pitching machine powered by a gas generator was introduced. I can still remember our manager, Sam Easter, feeding baseballs into the machine and getting very adept at dodging line drives during batting practice (don’t think we had an L screen yet).

We were very well prepared for the season to begin. Brand new Cavalier uniforms were issued. The then New River District was composed of 12 teams and divided into two divisions. We finished with a 6-2 record winning our division and 9-5-1 record overall. We suffered a heartbreaking  3-2 loss in the district championship game to finish the inaugural season as district runner ups. That loss bothers me still. Carroll County High School Baseball was off to a good start.

Coach Worrell’s influence followed me after my high school years. My freshman year in college I missed playing terribly. I stopped by CCHS practice one day to see my teammates still playing. Coach Worrell asked me to stay and chat after practice. He talked with me about becoming an umpire to stay involved with baseball and make some spending money. I liked the idea, took the exams, worked some scrimmages, and became an umpire. My first game was Fort Chiswell at CCHS with many former teammates still playing and my older brother Jack coaching Fort Chiswell. No pressure, right? I continued to umpire for 17 years with the last 7 serving as the New River Baseball Commissioner. I always enjoyed seeing Coaches Worrell and Whittington at their games and catching up.

In 1992 I became the Head Baseball Coach at Blacksburg High School where I had been coaching football and basketball for many years. Many of the techniques I used and lessons I taught I learned from Coach Worrell. Several times I called him for advice. He was always available for me. I tried to model my program after his and after a few tough years we became successful. I was even able to get two former CCHS players, Jason Kilbourne and Brian Webb to help me as assistant coaches while they were attending VT and Radford University. It was always strange to compete with my old coaches but we always enjoyed it and had some great games. It was also good to be with Coaches Worrell and Whittington at district and regional coaches’ meetings. Later on I got to compete against Coach Nelson and Coach Tompkins. All the CCHS coaches were great in sharing scouting reports and helping out one another. CCHS Baseball has always been a class operation.

After Coach Worrell’s retirement in 1994 he taught me another valuable lesson. He would show up at games where his former players were coaching or college games where his players were playing.

One day when he showed up in Blacksburg for a game, I got the PA microphone and introduced him to the crowd. I told them how much he meant to me and that he was one of the top coaches ever in Virginia. Following his example, I went to see former players of mine playing in college at Virginia Tech, Radford, Emory and Henry, Roanoke College, and others.

A few years later I was able to attend the ceremonies to retire Coach Worrell’s number 21. He fussed at me for missing my baseball practice. I explained to him that my JV coaches were covering practice and being there for his ceremony took priority. He was glad to see me there despite the objections. The hat that I wore to this year’s alumni game was a hat I got at that ceremony. I wanted to honor him.

I was also able to attend the ceremony to name Bill Worrell Field in his honor. I was chosen to be one of the former players to speak. Coach Worrell was always a man that you wanted to make proud of you. I hoped that I did so with my remarks. I miss him and think of him often. He lives on in the lives of all the players he coached with the lessons they learned and with the role model he provided for us. It makes me proud with the way that Coaches Nelson, Tompkins, DeHaven, and now Burcham (along with all the JV and assistant coaches) have continued to maintain the high standards set by Coaches Worrell and Whittington that first year. I feel so lucky to have known Coach Worrell as a teacher, coach, mentor, umpire, opposing coach, and friend.

On the way out I stopped by the baseball record board. After the first season I was listed there several times but obviously no longer there. We used wooden bats. The introduction of aluminum bats really changed the hitting part of the game. Wish we would have had those. There on the board are some incredible stats achieved by some outstanding Cavaliers. Continuing out I drove by to look at the new gym (outside only) remembering the years in high school that neither Woodlawn or Hillsville even had a gym – great to see! Also coming around and looking at Tommy Thompson Field I thought how fortunate I was to play for two coaches so outstanding that their respective fields were named after them. Wow!

In closing, thanks to all for making one of the oldest Carroll County Cavaliers welcome. It is true that you can come home again. I promise more frequent visits in the future. Go Cavs!

Thank You Sir, for taking the time to check in and share your thoughts 🙏

Mama Petty is the first one to send in some photos 📷 !

We hope to add some more as the evening plays out so Please check back !

Marion Harris shares two pics…

➕

More from Mama Petty

Marion reports that Game 1 goes to the home team, 25-15.

Denise Webb is the next to ✔ in !

Borrowing this one from Mrs. Delp

Good evening!

I wanted to share a major accomplishment completed by Kayleigh Johnson the past two weeks.  I may be partial since she is my daughter, but I wanted to share this since this has such an impact on Carroll County in how she represented our hometown of Hillsville.

Kayleigh went through an extensive application process and was one of 33 students accepted in the Sorenson Institute’s High School Leaders Program (HSLP) that was held July 13^th through 27^th at the University of Virginia.  She was one of only two who represented Southwest Virginia, with the other participants primarily coming from Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Tidewater.  

The HSLP is designed to engage students in public policy challenges facing the Commonwealth and prepares them for civic leadership.  It also aims to help students become advocates in their communities and schools through a curriculum that offers practical skills and political knowledge.  During the two weeks there, Kayleigh heard from speakers such as representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, Secretary of Transportation’s Office, and others that impact our state government.  She also had the opportunity to travel to Richmond to tour the Capitol and Governor’s Mansion.  She was assigned to play the role of a Senator in a simulation of a General Assembly session where they created and passed a state budget bill.  Additionally, she participated in a Constitutional Convention where legislative concepts were developed that will eventually be brought up in the Virginia General Assembly.  She also worked to create a policy that will be presented in the General Assembly related to cover crops reducing run off in agriculture applications.

The biggest accomplishment that Kayleigh had during her two weeks there was her representation of Carroll County and Southwest Virginia.  There is no doubt that she left an indelible mark for Southwest Virginia; her fellow classmate, in her address to the cohort, specifically mentioned Kayleigh for making her realize that there’s much more to our great Commonwealth than she knew from her “Richmond bubble.”  I’m blown away at the number of her classmates that want to come visit Carroll County to see how great it is after spending two weeks with Kayleigh.  Specifically, after her classmates discovered that Kayleigh is the 2024 Miss Carroll County Ag Fair, many of them want to come and visit our fair since the idea of a community fair like ours is so foreign to them.  On LinkedIn, one program leader wrote that Kayleigh was a “bold champion for SWVA,” a “fierce advocate for her community,” and that she was “incredibly grateful for the ways she challenged her classmates’ perception of rural Virginia.”  Matt Hall from the AG’s Office commented that he was “so thankful that Carroll County is being represented so well.”  Describing his interaction with Kayleigh, a staffer from the Governor’s Mansion wrote that “the future is in good hands.” 

To witness firsthand the impact Kayleigh had on changing her classmates’ views – and even those of the adults – of Southwest Virginia was incredible.

At the graduation ceremony on Saturday, Kayleigh was one of two students that was presented the 2024 HSLP Spirit of Citizenship Award.  This award summed up Kayleigh by stating that the HSLP “was made better by her presence at every turn.”

Again, I wanted to share this with you all because not only is this an incredible accomplishment for Kayleigh, but also because of the impact she made during these two weeks on many people’s perceptions of Carroll County and all of Southwest Virginia.

Billy J. Johnson

Thank you Mr. Johnson for sharing such an uplifting story with us !

Kayleigh Johnson is a shining star 🌟 on the rise ! Please keep up your wonderful journey 🙏…

In the words of Hix Miller :

I don’t even know where to begin to describe what the Cavalier Baseball Program means to me, so first off, forgive me for being long winded but I have to start at the beginning.

First off, I have to thank my parents for instilling the “go get it” hard work ethic. My love for the game of baseball started long before I was old enough to even play, passed down from my dad, Doug “Bubba” Miller. Dad didn’t come through Carroll County. He actually graduated from Fries High School and was a phenomenal athlete. He was the MED player of the year, as a catcher,  for two consecutive years so I had some BIG shoes to fill.

The very first two influences, and probably the most memorable and important, of my baseball career were my dad, and Jimmy Burcham (Casey’s dad). Fast forward to when I started playing, Dad was there. He would take me to the local baseball field close to our home to take batting practice many days a week after working long, hot hours in a furniture factory. He always pushed me to my limits and beyond to be the absolute best I could be. So I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did if it hadn’t been for that fire that he instilled in me to be the best. Dad coached my little league team all the way up until I was old enough to try out for school ball. Dad and Jimmy were best friends so growing up i knew Casey and his sister Jamie really well.

I always thought of Jimmy and Lynn as another set of parents and always looked up to Casey like a brother and still do, so to see Casey at the head of the Cavalier program makes me so proud and makes me a bit boastful of the guy I’ve always considered my “big brother”. And if you ever got to see Casey hit a baseball you know what I mean when I say I always wanted to hit like Casey Burcham. I’ll never forget one thing Jimmy said to me and Casey one time taking some hitting practice.

We were talking about what kind of bat we wanted and Jimmy looked at both of us and said “it don’t matter what kind of bat you swing. You can take a broom stick to the batters box if you want to because if you can hit, you can hit” and that stuck with me.

Moving forward into school ball, with that same grit and determination that I had from the get go, I decided to try out for the JV baseball team as an 8th grader, instead of settling for just trying out for the middle school team and made the team. Insert the next two influences of my baseball career Coach Brad Bowman (RIP Coach, I miss you every day) and Coach Kevin DeHaven.

These two guys were especially special to me because they seen something in me and took a chance on a scrawny little, speedy outfielder with a somewhat decent arm. Coach Bowman and Coach DeHaven were savvy and knew how to play the game with the team they had. And they believed in the short game (bunting) a lot! So we learned to bunt. And won a lot of games playing “small ball”. I remember one time we were playing at Surry Central and Coach Bowman gave me the bunt sign, I bunted foul, again he gave me the bunt sign, I bunted foul again, he then called time, walked down to me at the plate and whispered in my ear “bunt the ball fair”. I replied “but Coach I’ve got two strikes already” to which he replied “then I guess you better get this one fair and it’s the perfect time, they’ll never expect it.”

As fate would have it I got it down fair and beat it out for a hit. Like I said before, I had the drive to be the best, the speed and the arm, but as much as my dad worked with me on hitting it never quite “clicked” and that probably had a bit to do with my stubbornness. Coach DeHaven started working with me on my batting stance and what bat to use and buddy let me tell ya he knew his stuff and taught me more about hitting than I could ever imagine. He was also a big part of my success as an outfielder, teaching me how to judge and get behind the ball so when it came time to throw, my momentum was moving forward into my throw. Along with that, he taught me the art of drag bunting as a right handed hitter which eventually landed me batting leadoff and led to a big majority of my base hits as my career as a Cavalier.

My freshman year I was back on the JV squad again because there was a fella by the name of Jacob Adams that played “my position” (center field) who was a senior and man what a ball player he was. I would go on to admire him with his speed and his cannon of an arm and I can remember thinking “man I hope I can play that spot as good as him”.

The next chapter of my Cavalier career would be the varsity team as a sophomore through my senior year and that brings the next influences, Coach Joe Tompkins and Coach Rick Nester.  Just like Coach Bowman and Coach DeHaven, Joe and Rick were very baseball smart and bunting was a must. During batting practice we were required to successfully but two fair balls before we were allowed to swing. You only got 10 swing so if you didn’t get two bunts down you didn’t get to swing. I spent a lot of time with Coach Nester since he was my outfield coach and gained a lot of respect for him because he also had that same fire and intensity for the game.

During pre-game warmups, he would always save me for last so that when I threw my last throw which was to home plate, everyone in the stadium, especially the opposing team, would see what they were up against if they were to try to run on my arm. We would go on to have one of the best seasons in school history my senior year. We won our district and wouldn’t you know, we won it with a suicide squeeze bunt and beat our district rivals, Tazwell. During that season we were playing our neighboring school, Grayson County, at Grayson and I was called in to pitch in the second inning. Now I wasn’t much from the mound. From 300 feet in center field, I was pretty accurate but there was a running joke that from 60 feet, six inches (the pitchers mound) I was doing good to even hit the backstop.

That particular game I was on and had an outstanding game. If I remember correctly I pitched 6 innings of an extra inning game, striking out 13 and only walked one or two allowing two hits which caught the attention of a man named Ed Goodson who was from Grayson and was really good friends with a college coach from UVA Wise. He made a call and the next thing I knew there were college coaches coming to watch me play. They got to watch my next game at Richlands as a center fielder. I had a great game then as well. I went 3 for 3 at the plate, made a diving catch and threw one out at the plate. They talked to me after the game and said they would love to see me pitch and would be at our last home game. The day of that game I walked into the coaches office and told Coach Tomkins that the coaches from Wise were coming and wanted to see me pitch, would it be possible for me to maybe get on the mound at the end of the game since he had used me as a closer through the season because I could throw hard. I’ll never forget when he looked up at me over his glasses, tossed me a game ball and said “sure, how about you start”. That meant a lot to me that he had the confidence in me to put that cross town rival game in my hands to begin with but the most memorable moment of that day was right after I finished my warmup pitches, Coach Tompkins called time, walked out to the mound and you can imagine my confusion because I hadn’t thrown the first pitch yet. Joe Tompkins was notorious for being able to calm your nerves by getting your mind off of what was going on and in that moment he said to me “you know they’re going to want to know how hard you actually throw. They’ll have a radar gun on you at first so I don’t care where your first pitch goes or if you even hit the backstop, reach back and get it”. And I did exactly that and that’s how I found out that I could throw 92mph. I then went on to play at the collegiate level for UVA-Wise along with my high school teammates Matt Hall and Brandon Horton, ironically enough were the Cavaliers as well so as it was stated by Mr Craig Worrell in the article on our signing day, “Once a Cavalier, Always a Cavalier.”

Now to ask me what it means to be on the baseball record board at CCHS, it’s truly an honor. I’m on there with the most at bats. That just goes to show how good of a program we had to be able to play enough games in a season and how determined I was as a hitter because although I did walk some, I didn’t go to the batters box looking for a walk so most of my at bats were recorded.

I know this has been lengthy and I apologize. I could go on and on but I will close with saying Thank you to everyone that has been a part of my life and molded me into the player I once was and the person I am today! If it weren’t for each and everyone I truly don’t know where I would have ended up.

Thank you,

Hix Miller

Mr. McGraw included some vintage photos 📷 from his day. The two hats in the next photo 📷 are 40 years and 39 years old.

The time frame is the Mid 1980’s

What an honor to bat 6^th, to be in the hitting order and follow the top five is a privilege that I can’t accurately describe!  When I was asked, “what does Cavalier Baseball mean to me?”; I have to reiterate what Rod, Matthew, Casey, Kevin and Steve have already explained, the impact Coach Worrell, Coach Whittington, Coach Bolen and Coach Tompkins has had on all of us; then and even now!  I named my son after Coach Worrell.

Coach Worrell asked me to be part of his Cavalier JV Football Team as a 12-year-old kid, “water boy”.  I looked forward to riding in his 1952 Ford Pickup, painted Cavalier blue, to and from the Cavalier football field.  It was then and from the “water boy” position that I first meet a few of the great Cavalier athletes; like Kim Gillespie, Lynn Conner, Jerry Reece, H.J. Hicks, Dennis Marshall, Terry Edwards, Steve Dowdy, Eddie Beck, Dr. Mark Burnette and Coach Ricky Nester, to name a few as there’s many more! 

It was then; I knew I wanted to be a Cavalier!  As football season ended, basketball began and what followed was a trip to the University of Virginia and the State Basketball Tournament for many of the above football players.  For those who weren’t on the basketball court, you very well could find them on the wrestling mat.  The Cavalier basketball and wrestling season ended, now Cavalier baseball!  I noticed many of the athletes I looked up to; was also on Coach Worrell’s baseball team.  WINNERS!

The Cavalier baseball team has been filled with winners for decades and with Casey and Combs leading the way, the future is very bright; their teams will have an abundance of WINNERS!  Historically, Cavalier baseball has WON, on an off the field; and I’m certain the tradition will continue forward.  

When I think of Cavalier baseball, my memory serves the tradition like the dirt horseshoe, caps worn backwards after wins and the Lord’s Prayer before every game.  Or maybe it was the superstitions, like Coach Whittington wearing black polyester slacks and a bright red dress shirt before every game and I mean every game!  It takes me to great players on the field; like the Beamer Boys; Joe and John, Jacky Lemons, Terry Dalton, Kenny Meredith, Rod Bryant, Steve Ayers, Craig Worrell, Ralph Berrier, Jr., and the many teammates from 1984-1985.  The 1985 team is deep in my heart, District Champions and Region 4 Runner-up.  I believe the 1985 team went further than any team before, the Region 4 Finals, we lost that game and 39 years later; it still hurts!

  The 85 team was deep and I find it worthy to list each member by name: Doug Reavis, Brian Stuart, Kenny Thomas, Steve Combs, Dwayne Huff, Mike Montgomery, Kenny Helton, Ricky Berrier, Greg Lineberry, J.D. Caudill, Keith Meredith, George Sharp, Keith Hawks, Gary Adams, Tony Sifford, Randy Lyons, Randy Webb, Jeff McCraw, Teddy Lintecum, Phillip Hill, Revonda McGrady, Bobbi Jo Nester, Coach Whittington and Coach Worrell.  Being a member of that team was and still is a highlight in my life!  I’m learning the Cavalier greats from 1985 onward!

Before them and in the beginning, in 1970 there was; Jim Shockley, Warren Manning and Gary Hull, ending their season 9-4-1.  In the 70’s, Jim Burcham, Greg Gravely, Eddie Hanks, Danny Webb, Ricky Frost, Gary Collins, Tim Newman, Keith Bowman, Donnie Crowder, Whitey Williams, Coach Ricky Nester, David Tickle, Jay McCraw, Billy Slate and many more that I haven’t mentioned began the tradition.

I would be unjust and disrepecful, not to mention longtime supporters like Mr. Leroy McGrady and Mr. Phil Coulson.  During my time at Carroll County High School, I distinctly remember the love of Cavalier baseball from Mr. McGrady and Mr. Coulson!  The fan support Cavalier baseball has and continues to receive, is second to none and speaks volumes of the historical foundation and expectations.

Cavalier baseball, in summary is a commitment to discipline, expectations, perseverance, traditions, pride, class, character, work ethic, dedication; it’s a COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE!  Go Cavaliers!

A sincere Thank You 🙏 to Mr. Douglas McCraw and next up is Mr. Hix Miller !