Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Taylor Sandeur and Drew Turocy were first-team All-Valley League selections, and Cody Hudson was named to the All-Valley second team, in selections announced on Saturday.

Sandefur was dominant on the mound for Waynesboro in 2010, going 7-0 in 13 appearances, including eight starts, with a 2.26 ERA. Sandefur, a 6-2, 245-pound freshman from Western Carolina, had 60 strikeouts in 59 and two-thirds innings pitched and allowed opposing hitters to bat just .215 on the season.

Turocy, a 6-3, 190-pound junior centerfielder from Akron, led the Generals in batting average at .370 with a home run and 31 RBIs. Turocy also had eight stolen bases in 10 attempts and seven outfield assists.

Hudson, a 5-11, 183-pound freshman leftfielder from Austin Peay, hit .303 with 24 RBI, a team-high 36 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts.

A notable omission from the All-Valley teams was Waynesboro third baseman Grant Fillipitch, who led the team with six home runs, 34 RBI and a .497 slugging percentage while hitting .302 on the season.

Named first-team All-Valley League at third base was Mike Garza from Woodstock (.388, 3 HR, 30 RBI), and named to the second-team at third base was Brant Jones (.356, 5 HR, 34 RBI).

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

A three-run sixth got Waynesboro back in the game, but a ninth-inning rally ended in dramatic fashion with Cody Hudson thrown out trying to steal third with two outs, sending the Generals to a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Winchester Saturday night.

The Royals had jumped out to a 6-1 lead with a three-run fifth off starting pitcher Brian Atkins seeming to give them control. The Generals scored three in the sixth, with T.J. Kuban getting things going with a two-out single. Devin Smith worked his way back from an 0-2 count off Winchester starter Matt Zahel (2-0) to reach on a base on balls. Jared King, who had already doubled twice, tripled on a 1-2 count to score Kuban and Smith. King then scored when Winchester centerfielder Kevin Brashears lost a Haskell Fink flyball in the lights.

Waynesboro got two on with two out in the seventh with singles by Jon Clinard and Grant Fillipitch, but Kuban lined to second to end that threat. The Generals were able to send the winning run to the plate in the ninth when Fillipitch came up with two on and two outs. Hudson was thrown out at third trying to steal on the first pitch to Fillipitch.

Atkins (1-4) took the loss, working seven and two-thirds innings and giving up six runs on 12 hits.

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Luray was in the midst of scoring four runs without the benefit of a hit in a wild first inning, and Waynesboro starter Taylor Sandefur needed something to go his way.

He got Ryan Lashley to ground to T.J. Kuban for out number three, then proceeded to mow down Wranglers for the next six innings, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh of an improbable 7-5 win Monday night at Mathers Park.

“Errors are part of the game. Those things are going to happen. You’ve just got to bear down and pound the zone and let your defense make plays behind you,” said Sandefur, who had among the more interesting stat lines that you’ll see to show for his efforts: seven innings pitched, five runs, one earned, two hits, eight strikeouts, three hit batters, W.

What the Waynesboro defense couldn’t do – committing a Valley League-high seven errors, six in the first three innings – the Waynesboro offense could. The Generals steadily chipped away at the first-inning fourspot off Luray starter Matt Laney, who had come into the game with a 2-0 record and 0.63 ERA, scoring a run in the first on a sacrifice fly-RBI by Chase Worthington, another in the third on another sac fly-RBI by Drew Turocy, two in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Jon Clinard and a run-scoring single by Cody Hudson, then three in the fifth on an error that allowed Worthington to score and a two-run single by Clinard that plated Alan Stoupa and Colin Harrington.

At this point, the attention shifted back to Sandefur, who still hadn’t given up a hit despite the four in the run column on the Luray part of the scoreboard.

“I had a good pace and good rhythm going,” said Sandefur, who improved to 6-0 with the win. “Alan (Stoupa, his catcher) called a good game. He called it, and I threw it. We were on the same wavelength, and we just kept it going.”

Luray catcher Nick Rickles broke up the no-hitter with a two-out flare to short left in the seventh that fell just outside the reach of Clinard. He came around to score on a single by Michael Broad before Sandefur rallied to get the last out of the inning on a strikeout of cleanup hitter Jeff Jefferson.

Despite the early trouble, Sandefur was prepared to go back out in the eighth and ninth to pursue the no-hitter.

“I want to be strong for the stretch drive, but I was ready to go back out until they got the hits in the seventh,” Sandefur said.

As for the win in a game with his D committing seven errors behind him: “Yeah, that’s a first for me,” Sandefur said, smiling. “It’s a credit to this team that we could pull together and get this one.”

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Cody Hudson had three hits and two RBI, and Daniel Bradshaw pitched into the eighth inning as Waynesboro rolled past Front Royal 9-6 Thursday night.

Bradshaw (2-0) ended up being charged with six earned runs in seven and two-thirds innings of work after giving up a threespot in the eighth, but his outing was solid nonetheless.

The offense staked him to a 9-1 lead with a five-run fifth that was highlighted by a pair of two-run singles by Hudson and Jon Clinard.

Drew Turocy also had three hits and scored two runs for Waynesboro, which has now won eight out of its last 11.

Greg Smith picked up his first save of the season in relief of Bradshaw.

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

A four-run fifth gave Waynesboro the lead, and a four-run ninth provided the final cushion in a 9-3 win at first-place Haymarket Saturday night.

The Senators had jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a three-run fourth off Generals starter Taylor Sandefur (5-0), but Waynesboro rallied in the fifth with an inning highlighted by a two-run triple by Cody Hudson, an RBI sac fly by Zephan Guyear and an RBI bases-loaded walk by Terrell Thompson.

A Guyear RBI single that plated Drew Turocy made it 5-3 in the sixth, which is where things stood until the ninth, when the Waynesboro offense erupted for four more runs with RBI singles by Thompson, Jon Clinard and Grant Fillipitch and an RBI sac fly by Hudson.

Sandefur went seven innings and gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out five.

Turocy had a 4-for-6 night at the plate, and catcher Alan Stoupa was 3-for-5 with a run scored.