Simmons Superlatives - Best Moments

When it comes to the Superlatives, sometimes there isn’t much rhyme or reason. Much like the WCSA Radio Show – or the Simmons Says show – my columns can be full stream of consciousness, and I get to thinking of what a good idea would be and put it out there before I’ve even considered what it will look like at the end.

Hence, “Best Moments.” It’s great in theory, but harder to execute in reality. Why? It relies heavily on my memory, which is sometimes hazy by the end of a long school year.

For top athletes, I can scroll back to all my writing and usually come up with concise lists of contenders for each Simmons Superlative (I probably had 20-30 more kids who just missed the cut this year). Catching a “Best Moment” can be harder. The best ones would need me to be there to fully understand what it meant and – try as I might – I’m not at every Warren County sporting event each year.

All that is said before you also take into account “Best Moment,” could be the most subjective of all the Superlatives I do. I said from the start these are all my lists and I ask nobody else to weigh in, but even if there are people who quibble with some of my rankings or call bias on others, it’s hard to argue with state medalists, state qualifiers and district champs getting extra praise.

(Another quick tangent: Is it getting to where everything I do needs a disclaimer that it is my opinion? The WCSA one is funny – and needed. I like to think people would understand Simmons Says columns and the Simmons Says radio show are ways to express my opinion and my opinion only.)

Backing up what I think is a “Best Moment” isn’t as easy. There are no stats to point out or medal stands separating a sixth-place finisher from a runner-up. I welcome anybody to add their picks for best memory in the comment section – you may be right and I’m sure people will want to read your thoughts too.

As for mine, let’s get to the list.

Lady Pioneers capture first win in school history

If there was one sport I got completely caught up in during the 2024-25 school year, it was flag football. It was so cool seeing Warren County compete on a level playing field, particularly on the gridiron, with everybody else in the state.

The Lady Pioneers, like almost every other program in Tennessee, were getting their first taste of flag football and it didn’t take long for them to develop an appetite for winning. In their very first home game, Warren County picked up its first win in program history, beating Bledsoe County 6-0 back in March.

Ten more wins followed as WCHS finished the season 11-5, but something still stands out about that first win at home. Nobody knew exactly what to expect when they took the field: What were the rules? Who were the stars? Was this going to be fun?

Answering those questions in order now: Nobody still really knows, a handful of Lady Pioneers including QB Chloe Wanamaker and ABSOLUTELY!

Zoie Verge still has the play of the year with her unreal TD catch to beat Van Buren County at the buzzer on the last game of the regular season at Nunley Stadium this spring, but Brinlee Griffith’s TD run – a jet sweep on fourth down – on opening night will always be remembered as when flag football got rolling locally.

WCHS tennis beating Cookeville at home

Full disclosure: I wasn’t at this match, but I got plenty of firsthand knowledge on the subject when I brought in coach Hannah Belew and four top members of the Lady Pioneer tennis team on my radio show and they described how it happened. Their recaps were great, as was the actual victory in March over the always dominant Lady Cavs that helped seal a regular season District 7-AA title.

My favorite part about their stories on beating Cookeville was the cascade effect of winning doubles to seal the match. Warren County trailed after singles and needed to sweep all three doubles sets to come back and steal victory from the Lady Cavs.

It happened in swift succession, with the No. 1 doubles pairing (Abby Graves and London Caten) winning 8-5, then rushing over to the next court where Susanna Netherton and Izzy Pitts were looking to lock up the match at 4-4.

Netherton and Pitts, a top pairing all year, won 8-4, leaving all eyes on the No. 3 doubles set where senior Ranna Takahashi and freshman Natalie Payne were playing with a chance to clinch the overall match.

I asked the girls if there was added pressure on the final duo, but everybody said they did their best to keep their results under wraps to make sure the last team wouldn’t get nervous. The celebration after told the story: Takahashi and Payne wrapped up the win with an 8-4 victory and then the team headed to Zaxby’s.

Honestly, beating Cookeville in anything is a pretty solid moment any year for Warren County. Doing it on the way to an unbeaten district record just made it a little bit sweeter.

The senior relay run in softball

When the Lady Pioneers rolled to a win on senior night over Spring Hill 15-0, it felt almost anticlimactic. Sure, it was fun to send Ky Damon, Lily Rains, Addison Smith, Callie Roberts and Brooke Wilson off in style, but it was such a beatdown – and quick too; They only played three innings – that the celebration felt muted.

That was until announcer Kevin Rowland (a true star in his role for Lady Pioneer softball) invited people to come onto the field and run with the seniors. It was mostly little kids who decided to accept the offer, but then I saw Johnny Rains stroll onto the field to hopefully soak up some extra seconds on the diamond with his daughter Lily.

Lily, one of three Rains kids who have been great representatives of WCHS softball, mildly protested. I don’t think she was embarrassed – I think she wanted everybody to do it too.

In that moment, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on senior night happened spontaneously. Every dad of a senior girl took the field and they challenged their kids to a relay race.

Even with some bending of the rules (downright cheating if we want to call it what it was), the young Lady Pioneer dusted their dads around the base paths. And it was so cool to see.

Since I only did three for the boys side, I’ll only include three for the girls too. That said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the kids I coached, Regin Grissom, getting a similar senior-night sendoff as Aaron Templeton after tearing up her knee on opening night.

Regin is a warrior and she worked so hard to come back from a knee injury in the final weeks of her junior season, only to have her other knee give out in the first quarter of our very first game. It was devastating to have to go see her for a second time in the ER that night, but it was heartwarming to see her stroll out on the court on senior night and make a layup to finish her Lady Bronco career.

Likewise, and staying on the senior night subject, I know the WCHS girls basketball senior night was a lightning rod topic, but I should say that the student section willing Valery Esparza onto the court – and her playing her tail off in the second half – was a great moment on an otherwise tough night. And seeing Valery and other Lady Pioneers get their flowers on senior night in the spring for flag football meant a little more too.