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.

Trio share book, experiences with students at Berkeley Glenn

Story by Jenny Hypes
jenny.hypes@emu.edu
 

Never give up when things get rough. That was the moral of the story in the book Wilma Unlimited, read by three members of the Waynesboro Generals baseball team to a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students at Berkeley Glenn Elementary School.

The players, who are being hosted by the Brian and Diane Lundstrom family, came in bright and early Thursday morning to read and talk to the students. The story that they shared was about Wilma Rudolph, who was a three-time gold medalist in track, born prematurely and stricken with polio at a young age.

Coming in and reading to the children is not something the guys had to do, Mark Lamm, a junior at Vanderbilt, said.

“It’s a good cause. This was a good story, and it gives these kids a chance to hear it from someone else other than their teacher. We thought it would be good to do something to give back,” Lamm said.

After the book was read, the students had a short discussion about the meaning of the book. When giving other examples about rough times and not giving up, Diane Lundstrom, a teacher at BGES, turned to the Generals and said, “I’m sure these boys have had a hard game every now and then.”

Michael Reed, a sophomore at LSU, replied, “Story of my life!”

Following that discussion, the children were given an opportunity to ask the Generals questions about baseball, the main one being, “How fast do you pitch? Lamm answered, “We all pitch right around 90 mph, which is faster than most people drive.”

A look of astonishment came across the children’s faces as they tried to think of something else to ask.

To show their appreciation for the players coming in and talking to them, each of the children made a card, complete with a picture of a flaming baseball, for the Generals. In return the men gave a little more of their time to answer some more questions about baseball and sign the hats, bats and baseballs the kids had brought in. They also awarded all nine children with passes to get into any General game for free.

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Daniel Bradshaw had no doubts that he would be back on the mound for the ninth inning. He had some convincing to do as far as manager Derek McDaniel was concerned.

“I was at 92 pitches. I wanted to go back out there. Coach said if somebody gets on base that he was going to come and get me,” said Bradshaw, who worked around a two-out ninth-inning throwing error to finish out the complete-game 5-2 Waynesboro victory over Rockbridge Friday night at Mathers Park.

Bradshaw (1-0) was masterful – giving up three hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out six Rapids batters. He was staked to a 2-0 first-inning lead when the Generals played small ball to the limits. Leadoff man Terrell Thompson walked and advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Dillon Way, then scored one out later when Way threw behind Thompson at second on an attempted pickoff that went wild into centerfield.

Another walk, to cleanup hitter Drew Turocy, was followed by a Turocy stolen base, then a strikeout by Cody Hudson that could have ended the inning but didn’t when Hudson reached first on a wild pitch on strike three. With Zephan Guyear at the plate, Hudson was caught in a rundown on a pickoff throw by starting pitcher Chris Zbin (1-3), but Hudson stayed alive in the pickle long enough to allow Turocy to steal home and make it 2-0.

Bradshaw made the early lead stand up.

“Going out there with the lead makes it easier. Your goal out there is just to throw strikes and get ground balls,” Bradshaw said.

Three broken Rapids bats won’t show up in the scorebook with the six K’s, but they were evidence that Bradshaw had his hard sinker working its magic.

“The sinker was definitely on. I threw some backdoor curveballs to their lefthanded hitters. I had everything working for me tonight,” Bradshaw said.

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. (more…)

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
 

Harrisonburg rallied from a 5-0 fifth-inning deficit to steal a win at Waynesboro, 7-5, Sunday night at Mathers Park.

The Generals seemed to be in control when Colin Harrington scored on a Grant Fillipitch groundout in the bottom of the fifth to extend the Waynesboro lead to 5-0. Starting pitcher Daniel Bradshaw gave up three runs in the sixth, though, and Harrisonburg had its way with the Waynesboro bullpen, scoring a run in the seventh off Dylan Ray, two in the eighth off Michael Reed (0-1) to take the lead at 6-5 and then adding an insurance run in the ninth off Wade Bilbrey.

Zach Brewster (2-0), meanwhile, held the Generals offense in check in four shutdown innings out of the Turks pen, limiting Waynesboro to three hits while striking out four.

Catcher Matt Malloy paced the Waynesboro offense with three hits.