Defensive issues hamper Generals

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Four unearned runs on four Waynesboro errors spelled the difference as Front Royal defeated the Generals 8-5 Tuesday night at Mathers Park.

Front Royal also committed four errors in the matchup of the two teams with the worst fielding percentages in the Valley League, but the Cardinals took better advantage of the Waynesboro miscues. The defensive lapses particularly hampered the efforts of Generals starting pitcher Brian Atkins (1-2), who gave up six runs, three earned, on 10 hits in five innings of work.

Even with the issues out in the field, Waynesboro was in the game until the end. Down 8-3 entering the ninth, the Generals pushed two runs across against reliever Chris Pena and sent the tying run to the plate in the form of Zephan Guyear, who grounded out to second on the first pitch from reliever Kyle Scallion, who recorded his first save of the season.

Dan Smith (2-1) got the win for Front Royal, working five and two-thirds innings and allowing three runs, two earned, on six Waynesboro hits.

Cody Hudson and Grant Fillipitch each had two hits to pace the Generals offense.

Greg VanSickler was 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored for Front Royal.

Generals get second in a row

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

A pair of RBI singles by Drew Turocy and seven quality innings from Taylor Sandefur highlighted an 11-7 win by the Waynesboro Generals over the Covington Lumberjacks Sunday night.

Sandefur (3-0) gave up seven runs, four earned, in seven innings and had 11 strikeouts on the night. The game was tied at 7-7 in the eight when the Generals pushed across three runs, including one on a Covington error that allowed Terrell Thompson to score and two more on the second of Turocy’s RBI base hits that scored Jon Clinard and Cody Hudson.

Thompson knocked in a run in the ninth to add to the cushion for Waynesboro, which won its second game in a row after ending a four-game losing streak Saturday night with a 6-4 win over Haymarket.

The win Sunday night moves the Generals to three games back of first-place Harrisonburg and Winchester in the Valley League standings.

Waynesboro has a day off on Monday and returns to action at Mathers Park on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. home tilt against Front Royal.

Fillipitch powers Generals to 6-4 win over Haymarket

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

John Fillipitch may never get to leave.

“Some of the guys were talking about that in the dugout. He picked a good weekend to be here,” said his son, Grant, who hit two homers with dad in the stands at Mathers Park to lead the Waynesboro Generals to a 6-4 win over the visiting Haymarket Senators Saturday night. Read more

Wranglers handle Generals

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

A six-run second gave Luray the early lead, and the Wranglers cruised to a 9-2 win over Waynesboro Friday night.

Starter Jeremy Fitzgerald (1-2) gave up seven runs, six earned, in two and two-thirds innings of work for Waynesboro, which lost its fourth in a row to fall into a tie for eighth place in the Valley League with Staunton, a 2-0 winner over Haymarket Friday night.

Johnny Sedlock (1-0) got the win with two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.

Terrell Thompson was 3-for-5 for the Generals at the plate.

Agony! Royals beat Generals in 13-inning heartbreaker

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Raymond Church hit his first home run of the season in the top of the 13th inning to lift Winchester to a wild 7-6 win over Waynesboro at Mathers Park.

Church hit his homer off reliever Drew Turocy (0-2) with two outs in the 13th. The Generals had a golden opportunity to win in the bottom of the 12th when they loaded the bases with two outs, but a sinking liner to right-center off the bat of Grant Fillipitch landed in the glove of Winchester rightfielder Tim Cross to end that threat.

Waynesboro battled back from an early 6-1 deficit with the big hit being a two-out, two-run double in the seventh by Zephan Guyear that made it 6-4 Winchester.

It was 6-5 in the ninth when the Generals loaded the bases with nobody out. Reliever Dylan Ward struck out Cody Hudson to get a big first out in the inning, but Alan Stoupa tied it with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Turocy and made it 6-6.

The Waynesboro bullpen was big in the comeback as well, giving up just two runs in eight and two-thirds innings.

Stephen Cooke (1-1) picked up the win with three innings of one-hit relief out of the Royals bullpen.

Live Blog: Winchester at Waynesboro

Join us tonight for a Live Blog during tonight’s Valley League contest pitting the Winchester Royals and the Waynesboro Generals.

WaynesboroGenerals.com editor Chris Graham will post during breaks in the action.

Join in with comments on the game, questions for Chris and more.

Woodstock knocks off Generals, 5-2

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Six strong innings from Vince Voiro and a lack of clutch hitting by Waynesboro doomed the Generals to a tough 5-2 loss Wednesday night at Mathers Park.

Voiro (3-1) came into the game with a 1.53 ERA and pitched as advertised, giving up two runs on five hits in his six innings of work.

Voiro outdueled Waynesboro starter Michael Reed (0-2), who scattered eight hits in his six innings of work but left down 3-2.

The River Bandits made it 5-2 with a pair of runs in the eighth off reliever Wade Bilbrey.

Waynesboro left 11 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in both the fourth and the seventh.

Terrell Thompson was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Generals.

Braves take Generals, 10-2

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Staunton rode a strong pitching performance by Logan Dodd and a pair of big innings at the plate to a 10-2 win over Waynesboro Tuesday night at John Moxie Memorial Stadium.

Dodd (1-1) allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out eight in seven innings. The Braves took control with a four-run third that was highlighted by a two-run homer by Todd Brazeal off Generals starter Brian Atkins (1-1).

A fivespot in the eighth off reliever Justin Thompson, making his first appearance of the season for Waynesboro, broke the game open.

Waynesboro got two hits each from Jon Clinard, Zephan Guyear, Grant Fillipitch and Cody Hudson.

Generals ride solid pitching to win over Luray

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Taylor Sandefur pitched seven and two-thirds strong innings, and Waynesboro was able to overcome a wild eighth-inning rally by Luray, en route to posting a 3-2 win over the Wranglers at Mathers Park Monday night.

Sandefur (2-0) had a shutout going into the eighth when Luray put runners on second and third with two out. Luray leaoff hitter Justin Fredejas hit what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder to third, but umpire C.R. Thompson ruled that third baseman Grant Fillipitch’s throw had pulled first baseman T.J. Kuban off the bag at first. Kuban briefly protested the call by showing Thompson that he had fieled the throw cleanly, and in the process a hustling Raiko Alfonso scored all the way from second base to turn what had been a 3-0 Generals lead into a 3-2 ballgame.

Sandefur was then lifted for Mark Lamm, who gave up a single to left to Eric Phillips after Fredejas had stolen second. Fredejas tried to score on the play, but Waynesboro leftfielder Terrell Thompson gunned Fredejas down at the plate for the third out of the inning.

Lam retired the Wranglers in the ninth to record his first save of the season.

Sandefur lowered his ERA to 0.76 in 23.2 innings this season.

Drew Turocy had two hits for Waynesboro.

Key to Generals’ season: D

Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Second in the league in hitting, second in the league in pitching. So how is it that the Generals are sitting at .500 through 12 games in 2010?

One word: defense.

“We’ve got to get better on defense,” co-owner and first-base coach Jim Critzer said, pointing to the area where Waynesboro has been glaringly deficient through 12 games. How about 11th in the 11-team Valley League in fielding with a league-high 27 errors that have led to (gulp!) 24 unearned runs?

The Generals have a 3.41 team ERA, but are nonetheless surrendering 5.42 runs per game with the unearned runs adding to the total, good for just sixth in the league.

Add in the league-high 24 stolen bases that Waynesboro opponents have run up, and you can see the room for improvement.

“We’re hitting the ball, and our pitching is as good as anybody in the league,” said Critzer, who is right on both of those counts according to the league’s statistical rundown, which currently has Waynesboro hitting at a brisk .289 clip and scoring 6.0 runs per game, good for second in both categories to first-place Haymarket, and the 3.41 team ERA is second to Front Royal, which is right now posting an otherwordly 2.46 team ERA through 13 games.

“We’ve got a solid ballclub,” Critzer said. “We keep the errors down, and we’re going to win some ballgames.”

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