Three Generals named to All-Valley teams

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).

Cards drop Waynesboro, 9-3, end Generals’ season

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Front Royal got to Waynesboro starter Chastin Akers early and cruised to a 9-3 win in the deciding Game 3 of the teams’ first-round Valley League playoff series on Saturday night.

The Generals trailed 2-0 after one, but had a chance in the third to make it a game when a two-out walk to Chase Worthington loaded the bases for T.J. Kuban. Kuban flied out to deep right to leave the bases loaded, and Front Royal seized control with a threespot in the bottom of the third that knocked out Akers (1-1).

Waynesboro left 12 runners on base for the game.

First-team All-Valley outfielder Drew Turocy had three hits for Waynesboro.

The loss ends Waynesboro’s 2010 season.

Generals win, force deciding game in playoff series

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Tim Leather had a rocky top of the first in his first start of the season, but after getting out of the bases-loaded, one-out jam with no damage, Leather was dominant, pitching seven scoreless innings to push Waynesboro to a 4-3 win over Front Royal in Game 2 of the teams’ first-round playoff series Friday night.

The win means there will be a deciding Game 3 Saturday night in Front Royal. First pitch in Bing Crosby Stadium is at 7:30 p.m.

Leather (1-0) also had to work his way out of a second-and-third, one-out situation in the third, striking out Cardinals’ cleanup hitter James Roche and getting Pete Greskoff to fly out to right. The Generals then put up a threespot in the bottom of the third, getting a leadoff single by Colin Harrington, a base on balls issued by Front Royal starter Ricky Ott (2-3) to Cody Hudson, and a wild RBI single by Grant Fillipitch that scored Harrington from second. On that play, Cards’ centerfielder Will Walsh tried to throw Hudson out at third base, but the ball hit Hudson on his slide into the bag and got away from third baseman Steve Rogers. Hudson scored, and Rogers’ throw home also got away from catcher Andy Drexel, allowing Fillipitch to advance to third, where he scored when Drew Turocy hit a sacrifice fly to left.

The Generals made it 4-0 in the fourth on another sac-fly RBI, this one off the bat of Harrington, scoring designated hitter Haskell Fink.

Leather handed a 4-0 lead to the bullpen in the eighth, but Front Royal got to the first man out of the pen, Zach McElroy, getting back-to-back doubles by Roche and Greskoff and an RBI groundout by A.J. Albee to make it 4-3 Waynesboro. Mark Lamm got the final two outs of the eighth, then closer Andrew Blackwell pitched a scoreless ninth, getting Matt Holland to fly out to Hudson in left to end it.

Generals game delayed to Thursday by storms

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Waynesboro and Front Royal got in an inning Wednesday night before the rains came and washed away the rest of Game 2 of their first-round Valley League playoff matchup.

The game will resume in the second inning Thursday at 7 p.m. at Mathers Park at Kate Collins Field.

Both teams went down in order 1-2-3 in the first inning. Front Royal cleanup hitter James Roche had a 3-0 count from Generals starting pitcher Tim Leather when the game was put into delay by a thunderstorm around 7:20 p.m.

By 7:40 p.m., the field was unplayable, with standing water on the infield dirt at shortstop and second base.

Heavy rains in the forecast for later Wednesday night also factored into the lengthened delay.

Waynesboro splits with Harrisonburg, earns #5 seed in playoffs

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

A seven-run fourth rallied Waynesboro from a 4-1 deficit in game two of a doubleheader at Harrisonburg and earned the Generals a split with the Turks on Monday.

The split gives Waynesboro the #5 seed in the Valley League playoffs, which get going Tuesday night with the Generals traveling to Front Royal to take on the fourth-seeded Cardinals in Game 1 of a best-of-three first-round series.

Waynesboro got complete-game seven-inning efforts from a pair of pitchers making their first starts of the season, Drew Turocy, who took the tough-luck 1-0 loss in Game 1 on Monday against the Turks, and Devin Smith, who shut out Harrisonburg in the final four innings after giving up three in the first and a single run in the third.

Turocy, the Generals’ starting centerfielder most of the season, keyed the seven-run fourth-inning rally in Game 2 with a three-run homer to right field, his first homer of the season, and the first homer by a General other than Grant Fillipitch, who finished the regular season with six home runs in 2010.

Turocy (0-2) lost Game 1 despite giving up just one run on seven hits in six innings of work. Turocy struck out four and did not issue a walk in the effort.

Smith (1-1) gave up four runs on six hits in seven innings pitched in Game 2. Smith struck out three and walked one.

The split of the doubleheader left Waynesboro and Harrisonburg tied for fifth in the league standings with identical 22-22 records. Waynesboro earned the #5 seed by virtue of their 3-2 advantage over Harrisonburg in their head-to-head series in 2010.

#4 seed Front Royal finished a game ahead of the two teams with a 23-21 record. The Cards and the Generals split their season series at 2-2. Front Royal won the first two matchups between the teams, 3-2 in 11 innings on June 15 in Front Royal and 8-5 on June 29 in Waynesboro, and Waynesboro winning the final two, 9-6 at Front Royal on July 15 and 4-3 in Waynesboro on July 28.

Game 1 of the Waynesboro-Front Royal playoff series is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bing Crosby Stadium in Front Royal.

Game 2 will be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mathers Park at Kate Collins Field in Waynesboro.

Game 3, if necessary, would be played on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Front Royal.

Generals get win in first game of Sunday doubleheader

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Chastin Akers picked six strong innings in his first start of the Valley League season, and Waynesboro got the win in the first of two on Sunday, knocking off Covington, 6-4.

Akers (1-0) gave up three runs on seven hits in his second appearance of the season. The 6-7 lefty from Concord got some help early as the Generals scored three runs in the bottom of the first aided by a pair of Covington errors, including one on a one-out grounder by Drew Turocy that allowed Colin Harrington and Cody Hudson to score.

Chase Worthington had a pair of sacrifice-fly RBIs for Waynesboro, which had already clinched a playoff berth on Saturday night when Woodstock lost to Winchester.

The win pushes Waynesboro for the moment into fifth place a half-game ahead of idle Harrisonburg.

The Generals host Staunton at 7 p.m. in their regular-season home finale.

Idle Generals clinch playoff berth

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Woodstock’s 10-8 loss to Winchester Saturday night means idle Waynesboro has clinched a berth in the 2010 Valley League playoffs.

The Generals, at 20-20 with four games to play, have a grueling two-day stretch to finish the regular season, with doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday, Waynesboro is scheduled to host Covington (19-22) at 1 p.m. and then host Staunton (17-26) at 7 p.m.

Staunton’s slim playoff hopes remain alive after the Braves (17-26) posted a rain-shortened 6-4 win at Covington Saturday night.

On Monday, the Generals will play a twinbill at Harrisonburg (21-21). The first game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.

Waynesboro can still finish anywhere from a tie for third to eighth in the league with two days remaining in the regular season.

Thursday’s game postponed due to weather

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net 

The Covington Lumberjacks-Waynesboro Generals game scheduled for Thursday has been postponed after Waynesboro was hit by a severe storm Thursday afternoon.

The game will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. as part of a day-night doubleheader. Waynesboro will host Covington at 1 p.m., and then play at home against the Staunton Braves in the regular-season home finale at 7 p.m.

Summers, Lamm hold off Cardinals in 4-3 win

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Jarryd Summers struck out 10 in seven innings, and Mark Lamm made his effort stand up with two scoreless innings of relief, as Waynesboro posted an important 4-3 win over Front Royal at Mathers Park Wednesday night.

The win pushed Waynesboro ever closer to clinching a playoff berth. With Woodstock’s 8-6 loss at Rockbridge, the Generals reduced their magic number to clinching a playoff bid to three.

Summers (2-1) was solid all night long, giving up three runs on five hits to go with his 10 Ks. Summers has now struck out 23 in 19 innings pitched this season.

Lamm struck out three in his two innings out of the pen. The 6-4, 215-pound righty from Vanderbilt has yet to give up a run in nine appearances and has struck out 20 in 14 and a third innings.

The Generals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first off losing pitcher Blake Ford (2-3) with four consecutive hits with two outs in the inning. Drew Turocy and Grant Fillipitch hit back-to-back doubles, followed up by a pair of singles by Chase Worthington and Cody Hudson, to get the early runs on the board.

Front Royal tied it at 2-2 in the second on a two-run triple by Sean Jamieson. Waynesboro answered in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice-fly RBI by Drew Turocy that scored Alan Stoupa. The lead was extended to 4-2 in the fifth when Chase Worthington led off that frame with a double and came around to score on an A.J. Albee error on a grounder off the bat of Hudson.

The Cardinals tightened things up in the sixth when Jamieson picked up his third RBI of the night by drawing a bases-loaded walk from Summers, who got out of that inning by striking out Steve Rogers one batter later to strand three Front Royal baserunners.

The Cards got two on with two out in the seventh off Summers before the Generals pitcher induced an inning-ending grounder off the bat of three-hole hitter Matt Holland.

Lamm allowed just one baserunner in his two innings on the mound, a two-out eighth-inning walk to Jamieson, before he K’d Rogers to end that threat.

Senators hold off Generals, 10-9

Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

League-leading Haymarket finally solved Waynesboro, but it wasn’t easy.

The Generals jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and then rallied for three runs in the ninth before falling to the first-place Senators 10-9 Tuesday night.

The win was the first in four tries for Haymarket, which extended its lead over second-place Winchester to four and a half games with the win over Waynesboro and the Royals’ 2-0 loss at Harrisonburg.

Grant Fillipitch hit his fifth homer of the season in the first, a three-run shot that helped push Waynesboro to what became a 5-1 lead in the third. Haymarket rallied back to take a 7-6 lead with two runs in the sixth off reliever Devin Smith (0-1).

Kevin Ferguson (4-1) picked up the win for Haymarket with two scoreless innings of relief.

Waynesboro starter Jeremy Fitzgerald gave up five runs, three earned, in five innings.

Drew Turocy had four hits to raise his average to .375 for the season.

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