Generals Announce 2022 Coaching Staff
The Waynesboro Generals are welcoming back the 2019 Maynard “Mo” Weber Manager of the Year, Zac Cole, for his third season as the head coach in Waynesboro. Cole returns coming off of a 2021 campaign that saw the Generals come up just one series shy of a VBL title.
Cole is a familiar face around the league as he coached the New Market Rebels including a championship run in his third and final year at the helm in 2018. Outside of coaching Cole also played for the Generals during the 2004 season.
Cole is currently the pitching coach at the College of Central Florida in his second season for the Patriots.
Making the trip from the College of Central Florida with Cole will be Jason Rose. Rose is currently the hitting coach for the Patriots in his first season with the program.
Prior to working with the Patriots, Rose spent time working in the Toronto Blue Jays organization including serving as the Video Associate for the Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons in 2019.
Brandon Matthews will also be joining the coaching staff for the 2022 campaign. Matthews returns to Waynesboro after spending the 2019 season as a hitting consultant for the team. He also was on the coaching staff along with Cole for the Rebels 2018 VBL Championship run.
Matthews currently operates Swing Angry LLC which he started in 2017 that is currently located in Aulander, NC.
Justin Barr will join the coaching staff for the 2022 season. Barr is currently attending the University of Akron and is an infielder for the Zips.
Before transferring to Akron, Barr attended Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia. While there Barr played under Zac Cole.
The final member of the 2022 coaching staff is Brady Jones. Jones returns to Waynesboro after playing for the Generals last season as a relief pitcher. Jones currently attends East Tennessee State University. The Woodstock, Georgia native is set to graduate with a degree in kinesiology.
The Generals will open the 2022 campaign at home as they host the Staunton Braves on Friday, June 3 at 7 p.m.
Walk-off RBI single lifts Staunton to series-clinching win over Waynesboro
For the second time in three nights, Staunton got a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to break a tie score to walk off with a win over Waynesboro.
Monday night, it was Jordan Taylor taking a two-strike, two-out pitch from reliever Jamal Wilson just over the right side of the infield to score Brad Jarreau from third with the series-clinching run in a 5-4 Braves win.
The victory sends Staunton (34-15) to the championship series against Strasburg.
With the loss, the two-time defending champion Generals (25-23) are done for 2015, but not without putting up a heckuva fight.
Staunton took the lead in the bottom of the first on a one-out RBI double by Brad Jarreau that scored Jordan Howard.
Waynesboro answered in the second on a sacrifice fly to short-center by Austin Hale that scored Jeremy Taylor from third.
The Braves broke through with a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Howard that made it 2-1 Staunton, and it could have been worse, but Joseph Estrada gunned down William Kinney at the plate trying to score on a fly ball to left off the bat of Jarreau to keep the margin at one.
An Estrada two-out RBI single scored Kevin Phillips to tie the game at 2-2, but it was the Braves’ turn to gun down a runner at the plate, with Jarreau cutting down Jonathan Camp at the plate from right-center.
A Taylor home run in the fourth made it 3-2 Staunton, and an Austin Edens RBI double in the fifth chased Generals starter Kevin Fagan with the score 4-2 Staunton.
Waynesboro answered with small ball in the sixth. Jonathan Camp led off the inning with a walk, and Jeremy Taylor, attempting to sacrifice him to second, beat the throw to first for an infield hit, and Camp advanced to third on an error by Braves starting pitcher Garrett Cave.
Camp scored on a wild pitch, with Taylor advancing to second. Taylor later stole third and scored on a two-out error by Kam Gellinger, tying the score at 4-4.
It would stay that way into the ninth, which began with Jarreau getting hit by a pitch from Wilson. Austin Edens grounded out to third for the first out of the inning, but Jarreau was able to advance to second on the play. Ryan Crile was retired for the second out on a grounder to first that allowed Jarreau to advance to third.
Wilson then walked Kevin Abraham and Kam Gellinger, the walk to Gellinger on a close 3-2 pitch that was called a ball.
Taylor worked the count to 1-2 before hitting a sinking liner over the head of Waynesboro second baseman Stephen Pitarra for the game-winning hit.
Damon Frazier (2-0, 1.89 ERA) earned the win for Staunton with three innings of two-hit, scoreless relief.
Wilson (3-4, 4.73 ERA) took the loss, giving up a run on three hits in an inning and two-thirds.
Chris Cook, in his first outing on the mound of the summer for the Generals, struck out five and walked two in two and two-thirds of hitless, scoreless relief.
Jeremy Taylor was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored. Estrada and Clayton Taylor each had two hits for Waynesboro.
Homers push Waynesboro past Staunton in Game 2, 4-2
Two-run homers by Kevin Phillips and Joseph Estrada each hit two-run homers, and Robert Pearson pitched into the eighth inning to lead Waynesboro to a 4-2 win over Staunton in Game 2 of the teams’ second-round Valley League playoff series Sunday night.
The game was played before a season-high crowd of 1,250 at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
Pearson (3-3, 4.39 ERA) went seven and a third innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking three. Alex Mauricio (1-0, 1.48 ERA) got the last five outs for his third save of the season.
Phillips homered in the fifth to give Waynesboro a 2-1 lead, and then Estrada homered in the sixth to push the lead to 4-1.
A William Kenney RBI groundout in the seventh cut the Staunton deficit to 4-2, and then things got interesting in the eighth.
The Braves loaded the bases with one out, chasing Pearson. Mauricio got Kurtis Brown to pop up to third for the second out, and Kevin Abraham flew out to right for the third out, ending the threat.
Mauricio pitched around a two-out Jack Schaaf single to close out the game.
The deciding Game 3 in the series will be played at John Moxie Memorial Stadium in Staunton. First pitch is at 7:30 p.m.
Heartbreaker: Staunton rallies for four in ninth, stuns Waynesboro, 7-6
Waynesboro closer Frankie Romano had given up one earned run all season. Pitching for the third night in a row, Romano ran out of gas, and Staunton took advantage, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth to steal Game 1 of the second-round Valley League playoff series, 7-6.
Romano (1-2, 2.45 ERA) didn’t record an out in the ninth, which began with the Generals up, 6-4. He was charged with four runs on four hits and one walk, giving up a leadoff single to Kam Gellinger, back-to-back singles to William Kinney and Jack Schaaf to load the bases, an RBI single to Jordan Howard, and a four-pitch walk to Brad Jarreau, before being lifted.
Dillon Cate came in with the score at 6-5 Waynesboro. He walked Austin Edens on a 3-2 pitch to force in the tying run before getting Ryan Crile to pop up to third for the first out of the inning.
Kurtis Brown jumped on the first pitch of the next at bat for the game-winning single.
Waynesboro starter Tyler Howe got a no-decision after a nice effort earlier in the game, giving up three runs on six hits in six and a third innings, striking out three and walking three.
The Braves, the Valley League’s best team in the 2015 regular season, won despite committing a ghastly eight errors leading to five unearned runs.
Game 2 in the best-of-three series is Sunday at 7 p.m. at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
Here we go again: Waynesboro upsets Harrisonburg, wins Valley League playoff series
For the second time in three seasons, the Waynesboro Generals completed a shocking first-round playoff upset of a higher-seeded Harrisonburg Turks team.
Matt Horkey was solid into the seventh, and Alex Mauricio and Frankie Romano closed things down in the latter innings, pushing Waynesboro to a 3-2 win over the Turks Friday night.
The win sends the Generals to the second round of the 2015 Valley League playoffs against the winner of the Staunton-Covington series.
Horkey (4-1, 2.60 ERA) had a shutout into the seventh, when Harrisonburg finally broke through with a pair of runs, on a solo homer by Kameron Esthay and an RBI triple by Shane Billings.
Mauricio struck out Steven McLean to end that threat, then struck out Esthay with the bases loaded and two down in the eighth to put out that fire.
Romano (1-1, 0.49 ERA) notched his sixth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Waynesboro got on the board in the fourth on an RBI single by Joseph Estrada, then added two more in the fifth on an RBI double by Clayton Taylor and an RBI single by Jonathan Camp.
Horkey’s final pitching line had him going six and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, striking out two and walking one.
Tucker McCoy (3-2, 3.52 ERA) took the loss for the Turks, giving up three runs, two earned, on nine hits in five innings of work.
All square: Waynesboro forces deciding Game 3 with 5-4 win over Turks
An RBI bunt by Jeremy Taylor brought home the tie-breaking run for Waynesboro in the bottom of the seventh, and the Generals held on from there to post a 5-4 Game 2 win over the Harrisonburg Turks on Thursday.
The victory forces a deciding Game 3 in the teams’ Valley League first-round playoff series Friday in Harrisonburg.
Harrisonburg had just tied the score with a nerve-wracking four-run rally in the top of the seventh. Kameron Esthay hit a sacrifice fly to get the Turks on the board. Shane Billings followed with a two-run double that made it 4-3 Waynesboro.
A Steven McLean RBI groundout tied the score at 4-4, but Generals reliever Jamal Wilson got out of the inning without any further damage.
Kevin Phillips led off Waynesboro’s half of the seventh with a walk, then reached second on a wild pitch. A one-out single by Jonathan Camp put runners on the corners, and Taylor followed with the sacrifice that scored Phillips from third.
Clayton Taylor was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in for Waynesboro. Jeremy Taylor was 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Chris Cook was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Phillips was 0-for-1 officially, but he reached base three times on walks, and scored three runs.
Harrisonburg Turks take Game 1, defeat Waynesboro, 4-2
Harrisonburg got four runs in the fifth, and James Ziemba and three Turks relievers made them stand up in a 4-2 win over the Waynesboro Generals in Game 1 of the teams’ Valley League best-of-three playoff series.
Ziemba gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings, striking out three and walking four.
Waynesboro got on the board in the top of the first on an RBI groundout by Clayton Taylor, but the Generals left the bases loaded, and let Ziemba off the hook.
That same scenario materialized in the fourth when Waynesboro went up 2-0 on a bases-loaded walk to Chris Cook, but the Generals again left the bases loaded.
Harrisonburg finally got on the board in the fifth, tying the score at 2-2 on a two-run double by Kameron Esthay, then taking the lead on a two-run single by Shane Billings that made it 4-2 Turks.
Waynesboro threatened in the sixth and eighth, but stranded two runners on base each inning, ending the night leaving 12 runners on base.
Vince Braman took the loss for Waynesboro in a complete-game effort, giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits in eight innings, striking out three without issuing a walk.
Game 2 is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
Waynesboro Generals top Charlottesville, 5-1, ready for playoffs
Robert Pearson threw five innings of two-hit ball, and Alex Mauricio and Enderson Velasquez each drove in two runs, leading the Waynesboro Generals to a 5-1 win over the Charlottesville Tom Sox Saturday night at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
The win leaves Waynesboro (22-20) in third place at the end of its Valley League regular season. The Generals open the Valley League playoffs on the road on Monday.
Charlottesville (17-24) has one regular-season game left, at home on Sunday against the Winchester Royals. The Tom Sox need a win and maybe some help to clinch the fourth seed in the South Division playoffs.
Pearson (2-3, 4.81 ERA) had a quiet, efficient outing on the mound Saturday night for Waynesboro, giving up two hits in five scoreless innings, striking out three without issuing a walk, throwing just 58 pitches on the night, 41 for strikes.
Waynesboro got on the board with two runs in the fourth, on RBI singles by Mauricio and Aubrey McCarty.
The Generals tacked on two more runs in the seventh on a two-out, two-run single by Velasquez that put Waynesboro up 4-0.
A Mauricio sac fly in the eighth added an insurance run for Waynesboro.
Charlottesville finally got a runner home in the ninth on an RBI double by Brad McKay.
