A pair of former Waynesboro Generals will play key roles for the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers as they face off with Cal-Irvine this weekend for a spot in the College World Series.

“It will definitely be a good weekend of baseball. Two really good teams. It’s golng to come down to who can execute. This time of year, it’s all about who can execute when they have the chance to. The #1 seed doesn’t mean anything in this. Everyone just has to play great baseball now to win. Teams made it this far for a reason,” said Justin Thompson, a relief pitcher for the Cavs this spring who credits his experience in Waynesboro in 2010 with getting him ready for college baseball this year. (more…)

Keeping tabs on former Generals currently in professional baseball.

Updated May 19, 2011. (more…)

Waynesboro Generals alum Tommy Manzella will begin the 2011 season with the Houston Astros as the team’s starting shortstop.

Manzella, who played in Waynesboro in 2002, will replace Clint Barmes at shortstop after Barmes broke his left hand in spring training last week.

Barmes was hit by a pitch in a spring-training game by New York Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova on March 25.

Manzella was a third-round draft pick of Houston in 2005 and was brought up to major-league camp in February.

Manzella was an All-Valley League shortstop in Waynesboro in 2002, hitting .313 and leading the Generals with nine stolen bases that summer.

Story by James De Boer
EMU sports: www.emu.edu
 

Eight years after graduating from Eastern Mennonite University, Erik Kratz finally got the call he wanted – the call to the big leagues.

Kratz, who played for the Waynesboro Generals in 2000, has patiently worked his way through baseball’s minor leagues before getting his big call during Wednesday’s Triple-A All-Star game in Allentown, Pa., just 45 minutes from his hometown in Telford, Pa. He is now a full-fledged member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming part of a select crew of former Royals to play at the top level of their professional sport.

After being selected in the 29th round of the 2002 baseball draft, Kratz toiled for seven years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, struggling to get the consistent playing time that would allow him to show off his abilities. In 2009, the Pirates picked him up and sent him to their AAA affiliate, Indianapolis. An injury in Pittsburgh gave Kratz the opportunity he needed. (more…)

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Waynesboro Generals Hall of Famer Chris Enourato is off to a 2-0 start in his minor-league career, picking up wins in relief for the Gulf Coast rookie league team of the Toronto Blue Jays on June 26 and July 1.

Enourato signed a free-agent contract with the Blue Jays in June. He was tabbed for the Generals Hall of Fame in 2009 after wrapping up a three-year career in the Valley League that included a pair of shutout innings in the Valley League all-star game and the all-star game that the Valley League played against the Cal Ripken League that aired regionally on MASN.

Enourato had a 1-1 record with a 2.33 ERA and seven saves for Waynesboro in 2009 and was 6-2 with four saves and a 5.35 ERA in his senior season at West Virginia, where he racked up a career 19-6 record, a school-record 21 saves and a 4.28 ERA in his four seasons in Morgantown.

In four appearances in rookie league ball, Enourato has given up four runs, all earned, on six hits in five and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts.