Generals Neutralize Cannons
The Generals blasted three home runs in the five-run fifth inning on the road in Purcellville to blow the game open and improve their record to 5-2.
Waynesboro got things started right from the start with a two run inning in the top of the first. After a double play ball turned by the Cannons, there was nobody on and two out in the inning. Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast) would start things with a walk. Wes Clarke (South Carolina) would walk as well to put runners at first and second. Jackson Tate (Alabama) would deliver the big blow with a double scorched down the left field line to bring in both Kinker and Clarke. The double marked Jackson’s 4th of the year and also gave him his 4th and 5th RBI of the summer.
The Generals would wait until the fourth inning to strike again, this time just for one run. Santiago Garcia (Alabama State) would start things with a single. Two batters later, the cannons would commit an error, a category they dubiously lead the league in. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast) would drive in Garcia with a sacrifice fly to deep center field. The Gens would have the lead with a 3-0 mark after three and a half innings.
The Cannons would respond with their first run in the bottom of the fourth. To this point, the starter for the Gens, Eric Sapp (Gannon University) was dealing with not much resistance. However, when Sapp barely missed with a very close 2-2 count pitch, Jose Aquino would make the most of his opportunity. He blasted a solo shot to straight away left field to make the score 3-1 after four complete innings.
The Generals saw Aquino having fun with his homer in the fourth and wanted to have some fun of their own. Seth Cannady (Florida International) would start things out with a sharp single to left. Two batters later, Wes Clarke would unload on a ball to center that drilled off the press box in straight away centerfield. It was the second homer for Clarke on the season, and to that point, he had the only two home runs the Generals had hit this summer. Fans were still settling back into their seats when Jackson Tate would hit a deep drive to left centerfield. After the ball hit off the concrete warning track at Fireman’s Field in Purcellville, the sky high bounce provided Jackson with some time to motor around the bases. He would eventually use his top level speed to come all the way around for an inside-the-park home run to tally his first of the summer, and the first homer for the Generals by someone not named Wes Clarke. Santi Garcia would keep the line moving with a single. If two homers in the inning wasn’t enough, Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State) would hammer a high deep drive right down the right field line. After a few moments of suspense in waiting for the umpire’s decision of whether it was fair or foul, Cady was allowed to continue his trot around the bases to record his first homer of the season. The score after all this was said and done in the fifth inning was 8-1.
The Cannons would add a run in the bottom of the sixth and another in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 8-3, but the game was never really in doubt after the power display in the fifth. The win would improve the Generals to 5-2 and would drop the Cannons to 1-7.
Key Performers for Purcellville:
Jose Aquino: 4-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
Michael Brewer: 2-4, 2B, RBI
Kyle Hayes: 2-4, 2B, R
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 1-3, HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
Santiago Garcia (Alabama State): 3-4, 2 R
Jackson Tate (Alabama): 2-5, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI
Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State): 1-5, HR (1), 2 RBI
Eric Sapp (Gannon University): 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Waynesboro will be back in action on Wednesday when they welcome the Front Royal Cardinals to Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field for a 7 pm game.
Generals Fall to Tom Sox
In their first trip back to C-VILLE Weekly Ballpark since being eliminated from the playoffs last summer, the Generals lost to Charlottesville by a score of 7-2.
The Tom Sox got on the board in the bottom of the first and would lead the rest of the game. They would load the bases with nobody out in the inning. The fourth hitter in the inning would tap back to the mound where the Generals pitcher couldn’t corral and would be saddled with an error and a run scored. The next run would happen on a big double play ball that would allow starting pitcher Alex Tyson (Valdosta St) to keep things manageable for Waynesboro. After one inning of play, the deficit for the Gens was 2-0.
The Tom Sox would strike for two more runs in the third inning to get their lead to 4-0. Kevin Madden would hit a one-out triple for Charlottesville and would stay at third until a Josh Simon two out double would bring in both Madden and Cole McNamee who had walked earlier in the inning.
The game would then fall into a bit of a lull. Neither team could get much going. For the Generals, they could get a few one or two-out hits, but really weren’t able to string multiple hits together. With this lull, it felt like Charlottesville had everything under control until the top of the 8th inning. The Generals would be able to take advantage of a Charlottesville pitcher struggling to hit the strike zone. Kobe Lopez (Florida International) would start things with a single up the middle. Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast) would then reach via the infield single on a slow roller hit to the shortstop. After a fly out, Wes Clarke (South Carolina) would walk to load the bases. Jackson Tate would (Alabama) would also walk to bring a run in, and the bases were still loaded with one out. After a pitching change and a subsequent strikeout, Santi Garcia (Alabama State) would bring in a run after being hit by a pitch to make the score 4-2. However the Generals were not able to bring any more runners in and would end up giving up three runs in the bottom of the 8th to get the score to 7-2. That score would be the final.
Key Performers for Charlottesville:
Ramon Garza: 2-4, R
Kevin Madden: 2-3, 3B, RBI, 2 R
Mike Nickles: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Jack Friedman: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Bailey Wimberley (Memphis): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Kobe Lopez (Florida International): 2-5, R
Santi Garcia (Alabama State): 2-3, RBI
The Generals will be back in action Saturday as they continue their road trip. They’ll take on the Covington Lumberjacks at Casey Field. First pitch set for 7 pm.
Gens Suffer First Loss
Covington churned out nine runs on 12 hits to hand Waynesboro their first loss of the season Tuesday night in front of a nice crowd at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field.
Covington jumped out to a very early lead by scoring one in the top of the first inning. Christian Torres would sting a single to center field, move to second on a wild pitch, and score on a Matthew Cocciadiferro single to center. It was the first of four RBI on the night for Cocciadiferro.
Waynesboro would respond quickly in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at one. Kobe Lopez (Florida International) would lead off with a single that just got over the leaping second baseman. After the first out was recorded on a pop fly, Kobe would steal second base to get into scoring position. After a strikeout by Covington’s starter Bo Brutti, Wes Clarke (South Carolina) would deliver, like he has so many other times already this season, with a single up the middle to drive in Lopez.
The game remained close even after Covington scored a run in both the 3rd and 4th innings. In the 3rd, back-to-back singles and a runner moving up on a throw would have runners at second and third with one out. Christian Torres would drive in a run with a ground out to the second baseman. In the 4th, Tom Caufield would come up with a 2-out RBI single to get the score to 3-1.
Unfortunately for the Gens, the 5th inning was really the deciding factor. After a single and a walk to lead the inning off, a Matthew Cocciadiferro double into the left field corner drove in both runs. Cocciadiferro proceeded to steal third base and would be brought home on a single by Tyler Sanfilipo. Sanfilipo would be brought around to score on a double by Joe Fortin for the 4th run of the inning. Finally, Tom Caufield would come up with another 2-out RBI single to get the score to 8-1.
For good measure, Covington would add one more in the sixth inning to make it four straight frames with a run. Christian Torres would double, move to third on a wild pitch, and score on another RBI by Cocciadiferro. That brought the score to 9-1 after six complete innings.
Finally in the bottom of the 7th, the Generals were able to crack the code of Bo Brutti a bit. Elijah Quiceno (Gannon U) would lead off the inning getting hit by a pitch. Santiago Garcia (Alabama St.) would walk to get runners at first and second. Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast) then drilled a single to center field to drive in Quiceno for the first run of the inning. A few batters later, Seth Cannady (Florida International) would triple in two more runs to get the score to its final tally of 9-4.
Key Performers for Covington:
Matthew Cocciadiferro: 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI, SB
Christian Torres: 2-3, 2B, RBI, 3 R
Tom Caufield: 2-4, 2 RBI
Michael Rotenberry: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 3-4, 2B, RBI
Seth Cannady (Florida International): 1-2, 3B, 2 RBI
Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast): 1-2, RBI, 2 BB
Dylan Nix (Young Harris): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Daniel Casto (Memphis): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
The Generals have Wednesday night off but will be back in action on Thursday night when they travel to Rebel Park to take on the Rebels. It will be the first time that head coach Zac Cole has been back to the field where he won the 2018 VBL Championship. First pitch is set for 7:30.
Offense Explodes for 12 Runs On 14 Hits
The Generals jumped all over Purcellville’s pitching staff tonight for 12 runs. The pitching staff for Waynesboro was equally impressive with 16 strikeouts.
After a clean top of the first, the Gens wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Kobe Lopez (Florida International) led off the game with a walk, worked his way to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by the second hitter, Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast). Kinker would steal second base two pitches later and would move to third on an infield single by Elijah Quiceno (Gannon U) and then throwing error. Jackson Tate (Alabama) would ground into an RBI fielder’s choice to tack on the second run of the inning.
Purcellville would bounce back in the third inning with a run of their own. Things got started with a lead-off double by Kyle Hayes. He would be brought in to score two batters later on a single by Michael Brewer. Not to be outdone, the Generals would get the run right back in the bottom of the third. When Jackson Tate grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning, it looked as if the Gens would go quietly. However, Wes Clarke (South Carolina) hit an RBI triple to deep centerfield. That brought the score back to a 2 run cushion of 3-1.
The game remained close until the bottom of the 5th. The Generals would strike for 5 runs to blow the game open. Cole Jackson (Young Harris) would start things out with an infield single. Jackson Tate would double down the left field line to put runners on second and third. Wes Clarke then singled to bring both runners in for the first 2 runs of the inning. After a fielder’s choice, a Cannons error, and a strikeout, Kobe Lopez would double off the wall in left field to bring both runners in. Kobe would score a few pitches later on a single by Joe Kinker again. The score now read 8-1.
The Generals would tack on another run in the 6th. Cole Jackson started things off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Wes Clarke walked, Jack Murphy (St. Mary’s) grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in Cole Jackson.
The 7th inning proved to be another fruitful one for Waynesboro as they put up three more runs. Kobe Lopez would get a one-out infield single and would steal second when there was nobody around to cover the bag. Joe Kinker would reach on an error by the shortstop. Santiago Garcia (Alabama St.) stepped up in his pinch hit opportunity and drilled a two RBI single to right field after the right fielder missed the ball, allowing two runs and Garcia to get to third base. Cole Jackson would pick up his 3rd hit of the night to drive in Garcia to make the score 12-1.
The Cannons would add 3 runs in the top of the 8th, but overall, the pitching staff for the Gens was impressive as well. Eric Sapp (Gannon U) led the way with 5 strong innings where he struck out nine batters and picked up his first win of the season.
Key Performers for Purcellville:
Michael Brewer: 3-4, RBI, R
Jose Gutierrez: 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Kobe Lopez (Florida International): 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast): 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R
Cole Jackson (Young Harris): 3-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 2-3, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Eric Sapp (Gannon U): W (1-0), 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Dylan Nix (Young Harris): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
The Generals will take tomorrow off but will be back in action at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field on Tuesday when the Covington Lumberjacks come back to town.
Clarke Homers and Gens Win 6-1
The Generals’ offense was relentless in their 6-1 win over the Turks on Saturday night. They scored in five of their nine offensive frames with nine hits.
Scoring started in the second inning for the Gens. They loaded the bases thanks to a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a Seth Cannady (Florida International) single. Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast) grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in Santiago Garcia (Alabama St) for the first run of the game. Kobe Lopez (Florida International) kept the line moving with his RBI single to bring in Wes Clarke (South Carolina) to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Generals.
The Gens would get back on the scoreboard in the 4th when Wes Clarke hit his first homer of the season on the second pitch of the inning. He blistered the ball over the right-center field wall for the first home run hit by a General this season.
In the 5th, the Generals would get on the board again. Elijah Quiceno (Gannon U) drilled a one-out double and was brought in on the very next pitch. Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State) singled to put the Gens up 4-0.
The 6th inning got off to a slow start with the first two batters being retired, but when Christian Proffitt drew a two-out walk, the Gens would put together a nice two out rally. Kobe Lopez would follow up with his second single of the night, Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast) would load the bases with a walk, and Elijah Quiceno drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Proffitt. This made the score 5-0 after six complete innings
The 7th inning would make it four straight innings that the Gens would push one run across. They did their damage with two outs in the inning just as they had done in the 6th. This time it was Wes Clarke with a two-out double. He would move to third on a wild pitch and then come in to score on a Seth Cannady single to make the score 6-0.
The Turks would add a run in the bottom of the 9th to make it 6-1, but for Harrisonburg it was a story of missed opportunities. They pumped out seven hits, they were walked seven times, and they also had one hit batsman. Not only did they just get runners on, they also got them into scoring position plenty of times. They stole two bases and only struck out four times as a team. They just could never come up with that situational hit, so a ton of credit has to go to the pitching staff for working through pressure packed situations all night.
Key Performers for Harrisonburg:
Travis Reifsnider: 2-2, BB, HBP
McCann Mellett: 1-3, RBI, SB
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Kobe Lopez (FIU): 2-4, RBI, BB
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R
Seth Cannady (FIU): 2-4, RBI
Alex Tyson (Valdosta St): 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB
Bailey Wimberley (Memphis): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
The Generals are back in action Sunday night when they welcome the Purcellville Cannons to Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field. First pitch is set for 7 pm.
Opening Night Win for Gens
After some early offensive struggles, the Gens pushed across 3 huge runs in the 5th inning to take the lead for good in their Opening Night win over Covington.
The Lumberjacks wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. After Waynesboro starter Deven Judy (Gannon University) walked 2 out of his first 3 hitters, Matthew Cocciadiferro drilled a single to right field to bring Pedro Nazario in to score. The lead for the Jacks was at 1-0 after one inning.
Both pitchers had the strikeout pitch working early on. Kristopher Davidson for Covington had six strikeouts in his first four innings, while Judy also struck out six in four innings.
The score stayed the same until the bottom of the 5th. After the first batter of the inning was retired, Jackson Tate (U of Alabama) singled to start things out. After Jackson Greene (Florida St.) was hit by a pitch and Kobe Lopez (Florida International) walked, Nick Neville (South Carolina) hit a bases loaded, two RBI single to left field. On the very next pitch, Joe Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast) singled to right center to drive in Kobe Lopez. The score after 5 complete innings read Waynesboro on top, 3-1.
That’s all reliever Zach Blankenship (Valdosta State) would need. He fired three innings, gave up an unearned run and struck out two to pick up his first win of the season.
The offense would continue to shine in the 6th. Elijah Quiceno (Gannon University) would hit a one-out single to right field. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Quiceno would be brought in to score on a double by Jackson Tate.
Needing an answer, the Lumberjacks would score an unearned run to pull the score back to 4-2. Jeff Taylor tapped a ball back to Blankenship on the mound, who airmailed first base and allowed Taylor to move into second base. Pedro Nazario would then single to center to drive in Taylor.
Unfortunately for Jacks fans, the General offense would continue to tack on runs in the bottom half of the 7th. After Joe Kinker walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a ground out, Elijah Quiceno would come up with a 2-out single to score Kinker. That brought the score to 5-2 after seven complete innings.
McLain Harris (Young Harris College) would then come in and shut the door with a six out save. Four of the six outs he recorded were via the punch out.
Key Performers for Covington:
- Pedro Nazario: 1-2, 2 BB, R, RBI
- Kristopher Davidson: L (0-1), 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Jackson Tate (Alabama): 3-4, 2B, R, RBI, 2 SB
- Elijah Quiceno (Gannon): 2-4, R, RBI
- Deven Judy (Gannon): ND, 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
- Zach Blankenship (Valdosta St): W (1-0), 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- McLain Harris (Young Harris Col): SV (1), 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Head Coach Zac Cole and his team will be back in action tomorrow night on the road vs. Harrisonburg.
Generals Snap 3-Game Skid In Win Over Front Royal
The Generals had lost 3 straight games to drop under the .500 mark coming into the game Sunday night against the Front Royal Cardinals at Bing Crosby Stadium. The bats came alive for 13 hits to propel them to a win over the North Division leaders.
The scoring started in the top of the 3rd. With one out in the inning, Dalton Wingo (Central Florida)
Dalton Wingo: 3-3, 2B, HR, 3 R
connected on his 2nd homer of the season to begin his fantastic night at the plate. Then in the third inning, Jackson Webb (Central Florida) led off the inning with a single, stole second, and was brought into score on a Chase Cheek (Duke) grounder that couldn’t be handled by the second baseman. The lead after 4 complete innings was 2-0 in favor of the Generals.
Once again, the 5th inning began with a lead-off single. This time it was Tyler Bielamowicz (Houston) getting things started. Dalton Wingo then doubled off the wall in left field to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Kyle Wrighte (William & Mary) came through next with a single to score Bielo. After the RBI single, Gabe Montenegro (Southern Miss) hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Wingo. Going to the bottom of the 5th, the Generals led 4-0.
The Cardinals wouldn’t go away quietly. Evan Gillespie (Faulkner U) was throwing a gem, but would stumble just slightly in the 5th. After getting the first hitter of the inning to fly out, Gillespie gave up a walk and 2 doubles to the next three hitters. However, he would do a nice job working out of the inning with the last double being left stranded at second base. The lead was still intact at 4-2 Waynesboro.
In the top of the 6th, the Generals would make it 4 straight innings with a run. Tyler Trovinger (Oakland) would start the inning off with a single to left. 2 batters later, Dalton Wingo would contribute his third hit in as many at bats. That brought Kyle Wrighte to the plate with runners at first and second with 2 outs. After going down 0-2 in the count, Wrighte scorched a double off the wall in right field to bring in both runners.
Matt Nickles (Randolph-Macon) would sub in for Gillespie in the 6th. He worked a perfect two innings, facing the minimum 6 batters. After 7 complete innings, the Generals led 6-2.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Generals ran into some trouble. The inning seemed to be all but over after recording outs on the first two hitters of the inning. However, Spencer Packard drilled a home run to start a string of 5 straight 2-out hits. Christian Avant hits a double 2 pitches later, followed by Kendall Small hitting a no-doubter to right field. The Generals would then bring in Patrick O’Shea (St Mary’s) for the struggling Jacob Weirich (Southern Miss). O’Shea would surrender 2 straight singles and his night would be finished as well. So with 2 outs in the inning, Coach John Jeanes (Chipola) would turn to his closer Gio Soto (Florida International) for a four out save.
Soto came on, got out of the inning, and then threw a dominant 9th inning to lock down his 3rd save of the year.
Key Performers for Front Royal:
- Andrew Burden: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
- Spencer Packard: 1-3 HR (1)
- Kendall Small: 1-4, 2-Run HR (1)
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Chase Cheek (Duke): 2-5, 2 SB(3)
- Kyle Wrighte (William & Mary): 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI
- Dalton Wingo (Central Florida): 3-3, 2B, HR(2), 3 R
- Evan Gillespie (Faulkner U): W (1-0), 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- Gio Soto (Florida International): SV(3), 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
The Generals (5-5) will be looking for back-to-back wins tomorrow, Monday June 18th, when they take on the South Division leaders, the Charlottesville TomSox (8-3). Come out this week and support your Generals. They will have home games Monday and Tuesday (Charlottesville both nights), Thursday (Strasburg), Saturday (Staunton), and Sunday (Purcellville).
Bring your friends and family to Kate Collins field for some high-quality baseball this week. Hope to see you there!
Warner Adds Local Flavor; Soto Joins from FIU
Waynesboro, Virginia
The 2018 Generals will feature a little local flavor in a former Turner Ashby standout, Cody Warner, as he will be joined by hard throwing Gio Soto from Florida International. Warner is a catcher/utility player for Virginia Military Institute as Soto is a right-handed pitcher throwing in the relief role for the Panthers of FIU.
Cody Warner – Catcher/Utility
A native of Harrisonburg, Virginia, the 5’11 180-pound freshman made his way to VMI following a stellar career at Turner Ashby High School where he was a two-time first team all-conference catcher and ranked the #5 catcher in the state by Prep Baseball Report. Warner was also named the 2017 District and Conference Player of the Year. Warner currently sits with a .231 average in his freshman season with the Keydets as his most valuable asset is his ability to play multiple positions.
Gio Soto – Right-Handed Pitcher
A native of Miami, Florida, the 5’11 220-pound sophomore is a hard throwing right-handed pitcher out of the Panthers’ bullpen. Soto currently dons a 4.09 ERA over 13 appearances this season, along with 1 save and 13 strikeouts over 11 innings pitched. Soto looks to be a vital piece on the back-end of the Generals bullpen this season.
Waynesboro Amateur Athletics Inc is a 501(c)(3) corporation. Your donation is greatly appreciated. Visit waynesborogenerals.net for more information and game schedules.
