Indoor facility driving Robbinsville softball
Robbinsville – If you want to trace the recent uptick in success for Lady Knights’ softball, it all starts downtown.
For the past 2 ½ years, Brian “Petey” Millsaps has operated “The Rock,” an indoor softball facility. No, it will not come up on a map if you search for it – but to local natives, it is right next door to Eller’s Service Station.
The walls have holes big enough to step into – the product of countless repetitions and improvements made by swinging off a tee – but what is success without a little bit of character?
Between 14-16 hopefuls visit the facility each week, according to Robbinsville High School softball coach Billy Knight. And “The Rock” is attracting players from beyond Graham County’s borders as well.
The venue provides Knight with an opportunity to workout his Lady Knights on days when others might not be able to.
“These girls are working hard. They’re hungry,” Knight said. “I’m so excited with the progress we’ve made, and to know we’ve got such a good group moving up.”
Indeed, many of the middle school Knights will be joining the varsity ranks next spring.
And many of them have been working through the pandemic with a college-level instructor.
Brandon Carr is a softball coach with the Chattanooga State program, but his background in the sport goes back to his youth. The game was engrained into Carr at an early age, as he spent his time at the field while his mother coached teams around Sevier County, Tenn.
An injury his senior year of high school prevented Carr from chasing his dream further.
But after college graduation, he and his wife had an epiphany.
“To me, it’s all about helping others,” Carr said. “My wife and I opened a softball complex in Knoxville, and now that’s what she does. It’s a full-time job for her, but for both of us it’s definitely just like the old adage: ‘If you find something you love, you’ll never work a day of your life.’
“This isn’t work for us.”
In addition to his duties at Chattanooga State, Carr coaches a travel-ball team each summer that is consistently ranked in the national top 25. He plans to visit Robbinsville at least twice a week for the foreseeable future to work with whoever wishes to study under the learning tree.
And the system in place is working, as Coach Knight’s daughter Maggie made a verbal commitment to play for the Chattanooga State Lady Tigers on Monday.
“The Rock” is open for monthly and individual lessons.
For details, call 735-3907.