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The Rye Cove Eagles are 22-0 and are led by a guy in his first year as a head softball coach on the varsity level.
“This year has been a lot of fun for me,” Nick Hood said. “It’s been great for our school and community and we have had a lot of firsts.”
According to Hood, the Eagles won their first Cumberland District regular-season title, initial Cumberland District tournament championship and completed the first undefeated regular season in any sport in the school’s modern era.
Oh yeah, the 22 wins are also a single-season record and there could be more of those to come.
Folks have certainly taken notice of the only unbeaten softball squad still standing in far Southwest Virginia.
“The girls have handled the attention well,” Hood said. “They have enjoyed all of the big crowds that have been coming out to watch them play. We talked early on about having high expectations and standards as a team. Some of them have played in a lot of big games through travel ball – Nationals and World Series – which has helped to not make any moments too big. It’s just a game and win or lose we treat it like that – it’s not life or death. We talk about every game means the same and keeping our focus through the hype.”
Ace pitcher Eden Muncy has a 15-0 record and 0.22 ERA to go along with a .514 batting average and five home runs.
Kenzie Hood (.574) and Gracie Turner (.500, five homers, 28 RBIs) are the top hitters.
Kenzie Hood has struck out just once in 87 plate appearances, has a perfect fielding percentage and is 6-0 with a 0.69 ERA in the circle. She also happens to be the head coach’s daughter.
“I have coached Kenzie since she was big enough to pick up a ball, our relationship on the field is just like any coach and player and that has not changed this year with me taking on the head-coaching job at Rye Cove,” Nick Hood said. “I treat her just like any other player and she treats me like any other coach. She knows when we hit the field I’m not dad anymore. As a coach I’m proud of her embracing her role and being a leader on and off the field, she has a high softball IQ and she don’t care to do the small things to help her team be successful. As a dad, I am proud of how hard she works and the accomplishments and recognition that she has gained. The game has taught her life lessons that things are not handed to you. If you want something you have to work for it.”
Rye Cove suffered a 6-4 loss to Lebanon in the quarterfinals of last year’s Region 1D tournament. Kenzie Hood had two hits, but was the losing pitcher that day.
“After the loss I remember thinking we will be in this situation again next season,” Kenzie said. “Now I feel like we are more mentally prepared to be in that situation.”
The addition of Muncy, who transferred from Thomas Walker, has taken Rye Cove to a higher level.
“Eden is a great teammate and one of my best friends,” Kenzie Hood said. “Her ability to keep people guessing in the box is why she wins so many of the at-bats.”
The Eagles are winning at everything these days.
“It’s been a fun ride so far, but no matter what happens it has been a blessing and honor to coach these kids and I am very thankful for the great assistant coaches that I have,” Nick Hood said. “Last but not least we will try to stay locked in to the task at hand, one game at a time.”
The following is a brief look at the regional baseball, softball and soccer tournament games being held today. Complete capsule previews are available at HeraldCourier.com:
Region 1D Chilhowie (15-8) at Honaker (11-7), 6 p.m.: Chilhowie eliminated Honaker from the 2021 and 2022 Region 1D tournament.
Rural Retreat (17-6) at J.I. Burton (12-9), Noon: Noah Bandrimer and Justin Gilman of Rural Retreat combined to pitch a four-hitter as the Indians earned a 5-4 win over Burton in last year’s regional quarterfinals.
Twin Valley (0-16) at Eastside (16-5), 6 p.m.: Eastside senior Eli McCoy has a slash line of .516/.612/.844.
Magna Vista (14-9) at Abingdon (18-4), 6 p.m.: Jett Humphreys (.435 batting average; 8-2, 1.39 ERA) and Beckett Dotson (.382, 27 RBIs; 7-1, 1.56 ERA) have been terrific two-way players for Abingdon.
Patrick Henry (11-10) at Honaker (11-12), 5 p.m.: PH posted 5-3 and 6-5 regular-season wins over Honaker.
Rural Retreat (13-10) at Eastside (12-11), 1 p.m.: Rural Retreat is in the regional tournament for just the second time in program history, while Eastside is the defending Region 1D champs.
Twin Valley (7-15) at Rye Cove (22-0), 5 p.m.: Rye Cove recorded a 21-0 win over Twin Valley in the opening round of last year’s Region 1D tournament.
Grundy (8-14) at Lebanon (12-7), 5:30 p.m.: Lebanon is trying to reach the state tournament for the seventh time in eight years (there was no 2020 season due to the pandemic).
Abingdon (10-10) at Northside, 5 p.m.: These programs have met before in the postseason, most notably when Northside notched a 1-0 win over Abingdon in the 2010 VHSL Group AA state finals.
Lebanon (14-1-1) at Honaker (14-2), 7:30 p.m.: This should be a top-notch match between Russell County rivals.
Christiansburg at Abingdon, 6 p.m.: Pickett Johnson has been a goal-scoring machine for Abingdon.
Lebanon (1-12) at Honaker (6-5-1), 5:30 p.m.: Julia Barton scored five of Honaker’s six goals in 4-0 and 2-0 regular-season wins over Lebanon.
Hidden Valley at Abingdon (15-4), 4 p.m.: Senior Riley Cvetkovski has scored 33 goals this season for the Falcons.
