Before I get into my Father and Daughter Softball connection with out youngest of our five Children, Rebecca, I want to touch on why the Father – Daughter dynamic is such a huge part of the game of Softball.
The core group of Men that create the circle around Alan Knight and his Lady Panthers Softball program have one thing in common – they raised daughters that played for Page County High School. Dennis Zimmerman, Big Daddy and Arthur Campbell are three examples of folks that maintain their bond with the program long after their daughters graduate 🎓.
Tracy Moore is someone who has both a next level relationship with his daughter and the ability to put it into words. Here is a message he created a couple of years back as Tiff was celebrating a Birthday.
The goal behind documentation of a 40+ year relationship with the game of Softball is to give people a reason to smile as they reminis about what the time they spent with their children as they group up was all about.
From the first pair of cleats, the first ball glove and the first Bat. There is no restriction here to just the Dads from June 13, 2015, as any Proud Papa that has been part of this journey can join in.
Like everything else in life, not everyone is comfortable with pouring out their emotions. But if you have a thought process about Fathers and Daughters in regards to Softball, I would love 💘 to read it.
Thank You to Mr. Moore for raising such an Amazing daughter and for sharing an afternoon in your home.
Death Valley is here in California but also used at LSU and Clemson.
There was a stretch in the history of Page County High School Softball where the visiting team stepped off the bus 🚌 and where willing to accept defeat. Maybe if they played well, they could go the distance and not getting run ruled by the Lady Panthers.
Home field varies from sport to sport and is relevant at every level. High School, College and in the Pros. Teams play their entire season with the goal of playing in their home digs.
Having the name Alan F Knight Field on the park in Shenandoah, adds to the thought process for visiting teams. How good does a program have to be for an active Coach to have his or her name on it ?
Protect your home diamond 💎 and take great pride in doing so. Come to the park with the thought process of, ” Not in my House “. If one can find that mindset as a team at home,, it will transition to the days when its your turn to ride the bus 🚌.
One thing that has changed over the past decade is the number of opportunities for a potential Softball player to do in the springtime. Coaches are now competing with Tennis, Track 👣, Girls JV Soccer and Varsity Soccer ➕ the option of just chilling out with friends.
We will look closely 👀 at the home records during the 2015 season for both teams and look at the mindset of the players involved in regards to defendin your Park.
Kate Gordon became Kate Gordon Short along the way and her love of the game of Softball extended past her eligibility with the Dukes. While Women’s sports have made great strides in a number of areas but Softball still has aways to go.
There were offers from Japan 🇯🇵 and Australia 🇦🇺 but trying to play professionally here in the United States is still a challenge. In the past couple of years the Athletes Unlimited group has made the strongest attempt at giving players the opportunity to stay in the Country and pursue a professional career.
We will explore the season after the College days as well as explore just what it might take for Softball to find a next level home.
Page County High School might have reached the conclusion first in regards to winning a State Championship in 2015 in large part because they did so in 2014. PCHS was returning their core group after finally reaching the mountain top the year before, leaving the question about how Carroll County felt during the season ?
This was year three of the Rick Nester experience and the Lady 👩 Cavaliers had a unique combination of talented Seniors and a group of 9th graders coming up from Junior Varsity.
Hannah Dalton, Cheyenne Strickland, Sydney Childress and Tiffanie Moore represented the Senior class. Gracie Davidson, Morgan Tompkins and Kayla Robinson were the juniors, giving the coaching staff of Rick Nester, Jeff Tobler and David Quesenberry seven players that were entering their third season together. Edwin Tompkins and Cindy Edwards were running 🏃♂️ the Junior Varsity team and things were starting to gell a bit.
Here’s the actual question – at what point in the season were to players and coaches involved first thought outloud, we could win this thing ?
The school 🏫 had yet to win a State Championship so there wasn’t a blue print to use as a guide. In a perfect world I would get ten answers flowing in but I will work with the ones that come this way.
We know the back end answer, when the 21st out was recorded.
Emma Harman Laiken Burnett Holly Miller Madison Coleman Brooke Webb Bailey Allen
As we head into the supposed Off Season, its a great time to reflect on anything new that can be done to assist the six young Student Athletes listed above.
In 2023 this group were Freshman in High School and Carroll County was flirting with the possibility of hanging a second State Championship banner on The Hill. While nobody can say with absolute certainty that it would have happened, I do feel that if Rick Nester has Lauren Alley’s Bat and Glove on his lineup card, we come home to a Parade.
Northside edged us at home and then the Vikings steamrolled the field on their way to the Crown 👑. That team had leadership to spare, including eight members of the Senior Class. They had worked their way through the system and it was their time to shine.
Craig Worrell Photo
The 2024 season was a positive experience for the ever so young team, which will happen when you graduate 🎓 eight players. The group over achieved and followed the lead of Seniors Emma Leath and Katherine Lindamood.
That was a Top 10 Memory in regards to goofy things people do when they care about others.
The just completed season of 2024-2025 was a setback year for the program and anyone who was part of it knows the reasons why. The Trifecta of Emma Leath graduating, Jeff Tobler shocking passing away during the Christmas break and Holly Miller being lost for the season in the home opener.
Carlie Beamer was the lone Senior on the squad and one would be challenged to find a nicer person walking the earth. But the task of trying to lead the group through the obstacles in front of them should not have fallen on any one person.
Will the book we are working on move the needle for the group of six ? I can’t speak for anyone else but my recent exchange with Cheyenne Strickland makes me want to be better at everything I do. Such an amazing young Lady and she wasn’t the only one from that group.
Our Youth need role models and the 2015 team was stocked full of people to look up to and not just on the ball field.
The challenge here is to right the ship 🚢 and for the six Seniors involved it starts next week at the end of the season picnic. I know each of the six and each brings a special quality to the table. We have the facility, we have the coaching, we have the support of our Administration and we have friends and family 👪 members who support the team.
There are plenty of folks waiting in the wings, from the underclassmen to the Junior Varsity and the Middle School teams. Addie Greene, Natalie Burress, Raylee Goins and Laynie-Jo Leonard should be taking notes 📝 so when its their turn.
Somewhere during the window of team fellowship on Monday night, let’s hope that there’s one moment where one of these six players looks in the direction of her teammates and smiles, the kind of smile that translates to ” We got this.”
Now you know more about the timing of the project, in regards to Page County, Carroll County and myself. The clock ⏰ is ticking and its time to do like the old Buffalo 🐃 Bills, Circle the Wagons.
The road less traveled ! 