One of the numerous things hanging on the wall in my homemade office is this piece presented to me by Travis Leath. The fact that the new scoreboard is in the background just adds another dimension to the respect and appreciation that is shared between two softball junkies.
Emma Leath never weighed above 115 pounds, at least not in the six years that I have known her, yet she managed to absolutely dominate from inside the circle across her four seasons at Carroll County High School. After she graduated from The Hill, her father went from being the most supportive Dad to being the assistant coach alongside Rick Nester.
This created two issues, with the first being that he was trying to replace the beloved Jeff Tobler and second, he was trying to fill the cleats of one of the most determined athletes who I have met.
Travis is the definition of ” Love for the Game,” and it becomes apparent every time we speak about softball. Our paths don’t cross that often, but when they do, it is invigorating.
Every one of these 10 treks holds a memory or two. Triple A baseball went from three leagues down to just two, and that left these teams in the PCL.
El Paso might have the single greatest marketing concession stand item of all time ! The mascot is the Chihuahuas and they serve you some items in an actual dog bowl 🥣.
The little known fact about baseball played out west is the altitude that many of these parks sit at and how it affects both the batting averages and the pitchers earned run averages.
5,110 feet is the ( The Lab ) level above the sea in Albuquerque as one example. The nickname of the park is just another way that the folks at the AAA level work to make things fun !
This particular loop ended when I attended a game in the suburbs of Houston, at the home park of the Sugarland Space Cowboys. Finding a way to tie in both NASA and Texas into the team name….
The first half of this 50-year journey took place before I created either of my sites, so the stories from those 25 years have to be created from scratch. But the back half has already been documented, so it’s about finding the most relevant ones to match the theme.
Ryan McCafferty in the race car belonging to Dakota Walls Racing
This story involves roughly a dozen or so sports reporters that entered at various points in the life journey. Each one of them has been given an invitation to take pen to paper for this book. The kicker is that there is no set topic for their take.
Just a few years ago, here in Carroll County, we had Allen Worrell, Craig Worrell, David Broyles, and myself cranky out stories, one after another. But four separate reasons why we now look to Ryan McCafferty to carry our torch going forward.
Since the day I first met Ryan, I have done everything within my power to both make him feel welcomed and answer all questions that he might have. The need for local sports coverage is a necessity, so he would have received my assistance anyway. With that said, it’s a HUGE bonus that the young man is very, very likable !
We want him on that wall. We need him on that wall, and if Humpty Dumpsty were to fall off said wall, we would absolutely pick up the pieces and put him back together again.
I am proud to know Ryan McCafferty and feel safe with him leading the charge here on The Hill !
Now, here is Ryan being Ryan :
I’ll begin by saying I’m grateful to have been offered to write these few words for Jerry Carter, a man I am forever indebted to. I believe there are some people in life you don’t cross paths with by accident, and my relationship with Jerry will always be special for the fact that he was responsible for setting in motion the events that led to me landing my job with the Carroll News. More than that, he has been a mentor, a friend, perhaps even a family figure to me from the moment I arrived in Hillsville. When you’re 27 years old and take a chance on yourself by moving all alone into a brave new world to start building your full-time professional life, you need at least one person you can always count on to be there for you. Jerry has been that person.
On that note, I also don’t believe it’s an accident that my path has led me to Carroll County. I may not be able to speak much on the Lady Cavaliers’ 2015 State championship-winning softball team, the subject of much of this book. But I can speak on the 2022 State championship-winning girls’ basketball team. A little-known fact about that Finals game – or perhaps not so little-known, since it has become my go-to icebreaker here – is that while Marc Motley’s girls were hoisting their first of two back-to-back State trophies, sitting on press row at VCU’s Stuart C. Siegel Center that day was a young sports journalist fresh out of college, who only a week prior had been brought on to cover the Meridian Mustangs as a freelance writer for the Falls Church News-Press. At that point in time, that kid barely even knew Meridian’s story. Little did he know he would one day learn the story of the Cavaliers as well.
Naturally, on that evening, I was disappointed that the school I was there to represent had lost. During my time with the News-Press, I ultimately witnessed two Meridian boys’ soccer State titles, but I always felt bad that I never got to see one for either of their basketball teams, as I became especially tight with those programs. Chris Carrico took the girls all the way the year before they played Carroll County, but it was in an empty gym during the COVID-19 restrictions, and I knew how badly he wanted to give Falls Church a chance to properly celebrate. And it would have meant the world to see Jim Smith, a Northern Virginia high school legend who came out of retirement to coach their boys and rebuilt that program out of a rough spot, reach the top of the mountain.
What I never considered in all of that, though, was how much that day meant to Cavalier Country. Meridian always branded itself as an underdog school that had to earn everything through grit and dedication as opposed to elite resources and blue-chip talents. Carroll County makes them look privileged in comparison, and it’s what I realize I truly love about covering high school sports. There’s no shortcuts. There’s no NIL salaries or transfer portal or trades or free agency. Every victory has to be won the hard way, and that’s what makes the value of success worth something, when it comes from a group of players who grow through a program and stick together throughout the entire process.
I have always said that I’m not most sports journalists. I come from a unique background for a newspaper writer, one that in fact still includes freelance work for FanSided and a George Mason basketball blog. I’m from the generation that considers “journalism” to be any average Joe with a podcast or a Twitter account who has opinions about things. And in some of my work, I’m much more of an analyst than a reporter. But I really try hard not to be one of those analysts, the ones who must always center the focus around the loser rather than the winner, who act like every coach sucks and every player is overrated and every team is fraudulent. There’s a place for honest, constructive criticism, but the type of rage-bait hot-take artistry that has hijacked sports media today is simply dehumanizing. One of my primary goals with what I do is to promote the human element of what I cover, the hard work that these players and staff members pour in that deserves to be recognized regardless of the result.
With the Carroll News, I acknowledge that I’m stepping into a role that has been held by people who are far more accomplished than I am, and there’s a lot of pressure that’s come with that. In fact, my first memory of Jerry here was when I was covering a soccer game last spring, and he pointed me out in the crowd to introduce me and remarked “He has big shoes to fill.” A few nights later, he invited me to the press box and put me on the spot to speak during halftime. One of the first lessons I’ve learned here in Hillsville is that there’s nowhere to hide. In Northern Virginia, I could be an anonymous face in the crowd. The people whose teams I covered weren’t the same people I interacted with every day around town in Fairfax or Falls Church. Nobody I met ever knew what I did for a living unless I told them, and I never had to worry about getting on the wrong side of the community because of something I wrote.
I try my best to do right by the people of Carroll County. Again, I realize I’m not Allen Worrell. That man is an institution here. He has a last name that’s written across buildings and street signs and the Cavalier baseball stadium. I’m a kid from Fairfax County who’d never had a full-time job until April. But I’m here because the American Dream came calling. No matter how long I hold this position or wherever else my journey may lead me, Hillsville and the Carroll News will always be a special part of my life. And while I am here, it is my objective to capture the spirit of a small town that takes immense pride in its high school sports.
I’m privileged to be part of something much bigger than myself and I’m honored to carry on the Carroll News’ tradition of serving the people of Hillsville, using sports as a lens to bring the stories of Carroll County High School’s student-athletes to life. That’s something Jerry and I share in common and what drives both of us to do what we do. At the end of the day, sports aren’t just about the scoreboard – they’re about the people; both those on the field and those who come together to share their passion for their teams. And if there’s anything I’ve learned about Carroll County, it’s that the people here are passionate about their Cavaliers.
Thank you, Ryan McCafferty, and know that I’m just a phone call away !
