Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend : The keepsakes from the opening chapter is now 40+ years old and a little knicked up but its still the starting point of my relationship with the game of Softball.

Tracy Beck was a power hitting, strike throwing machine back in the day and she had a similar disposition as me in that Tracy didn’t lack for confidence.

My rookie year in Coaching the game of Softball took place back in 1984 in a city named St.Peters, Missouri. Located in St Charles County, it was named the fastest growing County in the United States 🇺🇸. Not sure how these things were measured but watching the place develop over the years, it made sense to me.

My Parents Church Softball team seemed like a nice place to stay out of trouble while I regrouped from the Navy sending me home after acknowledging that they could not fix my leg that had been damaged a few years earlier. The team had never been successful prior to 1984 but when the season ended we were holding the trophy 🏆.

Both Alan Knight and Rick Nester began their coaching careers at the same time. Both did it by graduating from their High School, earning a degree in College and then returning to their High School, staying there for over 40 years.

We went into the post season tournament with a record of just 3-5 but things changed when Tracy recruited her younger Sister, Linda Beck, to join us for the stretch run. Linda played Rover in the outfield and chased down many a hard hit balls.

Tracy finished up with a 4-4 record, batted .617 and slugged eight Home Runs in an 11 game campaign. Linda batted .550 and hit 3 home runs.

While Tracy was funny and outgoing, Linda was highly competitive and a bit more serious than her Sister. There were plenty of other talented players in the team, including a mixture of young and old. Jamie Vanzant and Marsha Uldall both finished up batting over .500 and shined on defense.

We closed out our remarkable run with a convincing 24-6 victory over 1st Church and rode off into the Sunset 🌇. Roughly eight months later, Linda Beck agreed to become Linda Carter, which meant decades of Wonder Woman jokes. To this day, anyone she meets that’s over 40 will still have fun with it. Younger than 40 and you know Gal Godot as Wonder Woman.

Tracy became my Sister-In-Law and I retired from coaching the game I love and returned to playing it.

Retirement at the age of 21 ?? I won a Championship, met my Bride 👰and gained a Sister-In-Law in just one season so I didn’t see a way to top that story.

If memory serves me, my Sister Sharon played in three games as well back in 1984. After that incredible start I switched over to trying to promote the game and then I met Alan Knight down the road.

Just one nugget in a sea of nuggets for this project but its Nugget #1…

Central – Woodstock dethrones the King 🤴 (William) in a made for Hollywood ending at Moyer Sports Complex on Saturday morning in Class 2 Softball.

King William High School came into Championship game of the Virginia High School League Saturday looking to turn their title run into Back 2 Back Crowns 👑. Central – Woodstock of Shenandoah County was looking to fulfill its quest to add their name to list of programs that have placed hardware in their schools 🏫 trophy 🏆case.

The photo 📷 above is the Coaches and Captains meeting prior to first pitch. The next two pics took place in the top of the seventh inning with Central holding what felt like an insurmountable 4-1 lead.

Central built their lead in the exact manner they had all season. Pitching, defense and amazing Small Ball execution. The Falcons were once again perfect at the plate in regards to Sacrifice Bunts(5 for 5) and each one played a part in building the three run lead.

King William has been playing Softball at a very high level for well over a decade and the Cavaliers were not going to go down without a fight.

Trailing by 3 runs and down to their final three outs, the Cavaliers made their final charge. Number nine hitter, Chloe Harley struck out to lead off and then leadoff hitter Olivia Unser reached base after being hit by a pitch. Junior Addison Kirby popped out to the Central Shortstop Vanessa Gordon and suddenly just one out remained.

Senior Payton Lewis extended the inning with a single and Junior Jillian Smith loaded the bases after also being struck by a pitch. Now the tying run was on first base and the winning run was entering the batters box.

Adalyn Mills is just a Freshman on the Cavaliers team and now she was facing the biggest at bat of her young career. Mills step in the box, dug in and calmly ripped a shot to deep left field. While the line drive headed towards the corner it brought back memories of the Robert Redford movie, The Natural.

Would the shot clear the fence to give the Cavs a 5-4 lead or rattle around in the corner for a bases clearing Triple to tie the game up ? When the ball finally landed it was safely in the glove of Hadley Witherow. Someone who just saw the final score of 4-1 might not appreciate just how great of a Championship game had taken place.

Kudos to Central – Woodstock for bringing home the trophy 🏆 to Exit 283 and Thank You 🙏 to King William for representing Class 2 in the manner they have for the past decade plus.

King William 001 000 0 – 1 4 3

Central-Wdst 120 010 X – 4 3 0

Note 📝 – Unofficial recording of the Hits and Errors.

Moyer Sports Complex is the place to be for State Championship Softball games – Class 1 & Class 2

King William versus Central – Woodstock on one diamond 💎 and Auburn versus Eastside on the other. The games are now set to be played side by side.

Fans of the sport lose out a bit by these games going at the same time versus one after another, guessing that weather had something to do with the change.

Central and Auburn…. rooting interests, not predictions.

More to follow…

75° / 9:02 – First Pitch

Central plates an unearned run 🏃‍♂️ in the bottom of the first, leading 1-0.

These two teams have Page County as a common opponent. Central won the Region by defeating the Lady 👩 Panthers in the Championship game and then King William hosted and won the State Quarterfinal.

Bottom 4th – Class 1, Eastside leads Auburn 2-0.

Central adds 2 in the bottom of the 2nd, lead 3-0 in the top of 3rd.

Class 1 – Bottom 5th, Eastside 3-0, Auburn has one hit.

King William gets 1 back in Class 2, trail 3-1, Bottom 3rd…

Auburn at bat in the Top 6th, trailing 3-0.

Off to the middle of the 4th, Falcons leading the Cavaliers 3-1 (10:09)

Top of 7th in Class 1 – Eastside 3-0

Top 5th – Class 2

10:24 – Class 1 is Final, Eastside Spartans 3, Auburn Eagles 0

Bottom 5th in Class 2, Central 3-1

King William puts 2 runners 🏃‍♂️ in scoring position but the rally ends there. Nowl 4-1, Bottom 6th

TV3 and Lady Panthers Head Coach Alan Knight taking in the game.

Central wins 4-1 but what an ending!!! More to follow.

Watching the one game today and keeping 👀 on the other brought back memories from two seasons ago when it was Travis Leath and I Watching the Class 1 & 2 Semi-finals. That year it was being held at a nearby location as Moyer was undergoing its $25 Million Dollar 💵 Face Lift.

That day it was King William versus James River and Page County versus Tazewell in Class 2 and Auburn was running the table in Class 1.

Mr Leath, or now Coach Leath is another Softball Soul who loves the game and has a great understanding of it as well.

King William fell that day in the State Semi-final to a fiesty group of Knights from James River. Tazewell finally broke through against the Lady Panthers. The following day Tazewell edged James River for the Crown 👑. I loved the fact that the Lady Panthers players asked Coach Knight if they could stay and watch the Championship game before returning to Shenandoah.

King William returned to State last season and they left with the Championship Trophy 🏆. This season, for the third straight time, the Cavaliers made it back to the Final Four..

I had the privilege of taking in the game this morning while standing in between Coach Knight, who had just faced both teams and Mrs. Kirby, Mother 👩 of the Cavaliers Short Stop.

Here’s what I can tell you about King William and their team besides the fact that they are talented. The three straight trips to the Final Four speak to that. They are well coached and they have a very knowledgeable and supportive fan base.

How long have they been playing at this level ? Go back to the first of the three Page County State Titles, back in 2024 and you will see it was versus King 🤴William.

The list of ties to Central – Woodstock is a very long one and dates back 20+ years. Happy for the Falcons and their staff and fans as it will be a joyful ride back up to Exit 283 later today!

Eastside held off Auburn on the strength 💪 of the Spartans starting pitcher. Sometimes that can be almost everything a team needs. Something else that Travis knows a little bit about. Auburn had another terrific year as the Eagles always seem to soar, regardless of the Sport or season.

That will conclude the live Blog portion of the story. Later on will be an actual gamer.