The Hill – Carroll County Middle School endured a long bus 🚌 ride to the other side of town, bouncing back for a 14-8 victory over visiting Galax on Wednesday night.

The game was halted with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning due to a combination of time ⏲️ and the amount of energy remaining in the right arm of the Maroon Tide pitcher, Claire Wolf.

8th graders :

Briley McGhee
Morgan Osborne- injured
Kaylee Mitchell

7th graders :

Laken Lintecum
Lily Spencer
Peyton Burcham
Mahala Holderfield
Kiki Daubach
Brylee Taylor
Amariah Martin
Kylee Martin
Zari Cushman
Sadie Mabry
Jenna Bowman

6th graders :

Cheyenne Bates
MacKenzie Burress

Roster of 16 ➕️ 2 Coaches

Back to the story itself , many people will read this that aren’t necessarily familiar with my writing style, so I will explain a few things here – the goal isn’t to report on the game, its to support the coaches and the team. The goal with our site is to create a safe place for someone to visit without fear of negativity or any form of bullying. Now, we have the disclaimer plugged 🔌 in, I will add one more difference between the college games that I normally work and a Middle School Softball game – there will be no errors counted in this game because at this level it should be about encouraging young players instead of pointing out their weaknesses.

A great example is  in the bottom of the fifth inning, Zari Cushman made solid contact, sending the ball into the outfield. ” Wheels 🛞 Cushman circled the bases, and Coach / Dad 👨 happily waved her around when she reached him in the third base coaches box 📦. In college, that is a base hit, and two errors, but here it’s an inside the park home 🏃‍♂️ run.

6:03 – First Pitch / 80°

The six inning contest was a tale of two halves as pitching and defense dominated the first three innings of play. Peyton Burcham started in the circle and held the Maroon Tide scoreless through three innings. Wolf came close to matching the three scoreless innings with the only score coming in the bottom of the first inninning.

Briley McGhee led off the frame with a base knock and came around to score on a fielder’s choice by Burcham.

What the first three innings were to pitching and defense, the next three were all about Crooked numbers. The two teams exchanged leads without a single inning having less than two runs scored.

11 :49 pm – Shawn Montgomery just emailed 📧 me his Middle School Track and Field meet results at the 18th hour of his day !

Galax had its first six hitters reach base in the top of the fourth inning, but CCMS limited the damage to just three runs. Now trailing 3-1, the Lady Cavaliers answered back immediately with a three spot of their own.

Burcham led off with a walk, and Jenna Bowman drove her home 🏡 with a RBI double, taking third on the throw home. Cushman laced a single to score Bowman and would eventually score the third run courtesy of Mahala Holderfield.

Galax retook the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth. Cheyenne Bates replaced Burcham in the circle with one out, and the Lady Cavaliers turned a nifty double play to end the inning.

Trailing 5-4, the home team took its offense to another level in the four run bottom of the fifth. Laiken Lintecum singled, and Burcham ripped a triple to tie the game, then Bowman added a RBI single before ” Wheels 🛞 ” zipped around the bases to make it 8-5.

Galax was able to tie 👔 the game again at 8-8 on three RBI singles, but a feisty Cavalier team answered back in a big way in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lilly Spencer led off with a walk, and McGhee reached to bring Lintecum to the plate. The shot to left field was a rocket 🚀 and the double plated two runs. Burcham followed with a RBI double, and Bowman completed her impressive night with a RBI single. The seventh grader finished up with 3 hits, three runs 🏃‍♀️ scored, and 3 driven in.

Kaylee Mitchell and Holderfield would add run scoring hits, leading to a visit to the mound by Galax. With the 2:00 ✂️off looming (1:50 played ), the game was called, and the home fans went home happy !

Please 🙏 note the mention of as many names as possible because I have no limit in regards to space.

From here, the dream was to have people head to the site and read this story ➕️ the other two about this game, then the Middle School Track and Field, wrapping up with the Adam Nester and the Nester Nine defeating Fort Chiswell 11-2.

Sadly, I just never got there. So when I’m done typing this one, I will send it to Mrs Burcham and Travis Osborne, and then hopefully, folks will read it on social media.

The goal for us is to create a safe space where students, parents, and 👪 can read all about the positive things taking place in this place we call home.

6:00 will be the first pitch for the game, and the goal is to provide the young ladies with an experience that will have them dreaming of the day they can return to take their turn as the next version of our Lady Cavaliers.

Look back at the Back 2 Back State Championships won by Carroll County and its easy enough to point back to the fact that those Lady Cavaliers were playing ball together for five or six years prior to becoming freshman at the school.

Another great example of how it works is the front row seat that I had to the juggernaut of Riverheads High School football program. By the time a boy reached the third grade, he had already  envisioned putting on the shoulder pads at the big school.

Tonight, Kevin Burress and I will do our best to leave an impression on the team coached by Nick Cushman and Deana Burcham. Rick Nester has already stayed back last night to prep the field and moved the Varsity practice up so clear the facility in time.

We understand just how vital the job that both coaches do is for the Lady Cavaliers’ future and the amount of pride they both take in their work. Hopefully tonight, both of them will enjoy their moments in the Sun 🌞 ( and hopefully the moon 🌙) as well.

Both basketball 🏀 and volleyball 🏐 have come over to The Hill this year, but this one is different. Those provided a bigger Gym to play in , this one has all the bells 🔔 and whistles .

A fence, electronic scoreboard, a tree 🌳 line, bleachers, rest rooms, and electricity. Tonight, there will be a foul ball contest, lights, and two fellas trying hard to create a memory that will have them working hard to return one day !

Special music 🎶 and a packed house 🏠 will go a long way to accomplishing our goals !See you soon !!!

Leaving Bill Worrell Field in the direction of Food Lion 🦁 to get a gallon of milk and I glanced over to the practice area behind Cavalier Park. Standing there conducting one of his non-stop practices was our Corey Williams. One u-turn later and a soccer ⚽️ conversation broke out.

Getting a chance to meet Nolon Burnett was an added bonus as Williams tells me that Nolon is currently coaching four youth teams !

This group consists of 3rd and 4th graders that are learning the game at the ideal time for our future Cavaliers !

Hometown Hereos !!

It was still fun to think about it for a hot minute…..

Coach Nick Cushman and Coach Deana Burcham are bringing their dedicated team of middle school 🏫 softball players over to the south side of The Boulevard for their home game tonight !

When this started out, I was just packing up my portable gear ⚙️ over to the middle school to announce their game. It would have been fun but limited to just the sound of my voice as you can not do a foul ball contest without a fence.

Moving the game over to Cavalier Park means that the equipment is in place and there is a place for folks to sit ➕️ it brings the Concession stand into play and our Foul Ball contest ! Not sure who moved it but kudos to him or her.

I believe that with every ounce of my being that for Carroll County to return to the glory days of the past, the movement starts with the Rec league and Middle School girls 👧. So my hope became that we could give our future players the Red Carpet treatment tonight.

With that said, there was still one BIG part of what we do that would be missing, and that was going to be my partner, Mr Kevin Burress ! In 48 years of holding a 🎤🎙🎤, I have never worked beside someone who was talented as my main man 👨.

What’s the secret to the chemistry ⚗️ between us ? Two grown-ups who care about the situation as a whole, from start to finish. We are trying hard to accomplish two things every time out with the first being, making our Lady Cavaliers feel as special as possible and do so without demeaning the visitors who are there to watch their daughters play as well.

I couldn’t be the one to ask Kevin to choose between which of his daughters he would watch play tonight, especially being Natalie ” Angel 😇 ” Burress is such a likable young Lady ( I think she gets that from Myranda ).

So, when Kevin shared the great news with me this morning 🌄, it has me wearing a silly grin 😁. He is even working up special music 🎶 for the younger ones !

I will be dependent upon our folks traveling to Stuart to keep updated on our progress over there tonight, and they are pretty good about that.