Morning 🌄 Brew
Psalm 31 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
There are a number of folks who are struggling with real-life situations this morning 🌄 and the hope of the Morning Brew is to give them a pleasant diversion at the start of their day.
Thank you to Joel Osteen, Travis Osborne, and Howard Mayo for helping shape that very thought process !
Get up, get started, and know that you are not alone !
Have a Blessed Day 🙌😇🙏
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Have a Blessed Day 🙌😇🙏
While we wait for the latest book 📖 to come back from the publisher, it’s a great time to work on one of the segments for the Softball / Baseball book. Here is the start of this one.
Carroll County High School is located just east of I-77 in Virginia, and while the most recognizable sports figure is longtime Virginia Tech University Football coach Frank Beamer, there are more than a few other rather notable former Cavaliers that shined on The Hill.
Erin Gibson and Alyssa Ervin both excelled on the basketball court with the latter leading the Lady Cavaliers to consecutive State Championships.
Head Coaches, Marc Motley, Howard Mayo, and Cindy Edwards have combined to win well over 1,000 victories and baseball Skipper, Casey Burcham is operating at a level that looks like a college program. But for the time being, the focus will be on another veteran leader, Softball coach Rick Nester.
Nester is in his fifth decade of shaping young student athletes at Carroll County and has been blessed to work with not one but two of the most impressive hurlers in the schools history. Sydney Nester and Emma Leath possess every feasible pitching record in the 50+ year history of the high school.
The two young ladies went about their business in completely different fashion as the baseball comparison would be Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux. Two of the greatest of All-Time but on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Dave Quesenberry was the pitching coach for the Lady Cavaliers when Nester was taking care of business and offered this take on the mindset of the flame throwing Nester.
” There were times that Sydney could defeat a visiting team before the game even started,” said Quesenberry. ” The velocity of her warmup routine was enough for opponents to mentally give up on the idea of hitting her.”
Leath delivered every single varsity pitch across her four years of eligibility and did so with the touch of a surgeon. The Maddux comparison is spot on, and the pair treated the idea of issuing a base on balls to a batter as absolutely unacceptable.
Nester would go on to first pitch for the Wolfpack at North Carolina State before transferring to Marshall University of the Sun Belt Conference. During her final season with the Thundering Herd, the powerful righty found herself leading the country in D1 strikeouts.
Carroll Wellness Center was full of smiles and joy as the Nester Family hosted their season ending gathering under one of the Pavillions on Wednesday evening.
Rick, Donna, Adam, and Kayla Nester ➕️ the three little ones that have been given credit for softening Papa up, were gracious hosts across the 90 minutes of celebration.
Principal Chuck Thompson joined the group, and while it is difficult to ever bat 1,000% with the planning for a large group, the Lady Cavaliers flirted with perfect attendance. Assistant Coach Travis Leath and recent graduate 🎓, Laiken Burnett, were two of the notable absentees. Bree Campbell was also unavailable due to another commitment.
Terry Warf stepped up to assist Coach Nester with his presentations, and the duo teased the gathering with a Guardian of the Galaxy style Dance 💃 off but a game of rock 🪨 , paper 📃, scissors ✂️ settled the question about which of the six seniors went home with the team banner… [Madison Coleman 👑]
Velvet Leonard and Tammy Quesenberry each have some pics 📸 from the evening and have shared them on social media.
If you add the fact that Addie Greene was gathering the items for Miss Burnett in addition to her own awards, the family car 🚗 was loaded down a bit.
The opportunity to share a word or two with so many members of the Softball family was certainly a treat. Six members of the team were participating in their final official act as a part of the program and they will be missed !
Pics 📸 from Myranda Burress :
Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Kelsey was leading the WNBA in scoring for the first time in her career when her untimely injury took place. She has missed so many games that she doesn’t appear on the scoring list but would still be second right now behind Aja Wilson. It will be great to have her back out there!
That quote was from Marion Harris last night 🌙 as I was working on a fun story that started out as a tribute to Kevin DeHaven and turned into a list of people who made the loop from The Hill to Bluefield and back. Thanks, Marion, for the late night assist.
Myranda Burress, Allison Dalton, and Velvet Leonard will take over as the Moms in the Softball room that are starting their senior year journey. Myranda might can lean on her good friend Velvet as this will be the first of three while Laynie-Jo will conclude the process for the Leonard family.
While I’m sure that the Dads in the equation will be feeling more than a few things as well, I believe that it is the Moms 👩 who are wondering how this happened…..
For the six players and families that experienced the emotional roller coaster in 2025 – 2026, it will be one final opportunity to share the same space as a group.
Now you know what I know this morning so get out there and have a Blessed Day 🙌😇🙏.
Bill Gallimore & The road less traveled ! 