Waynesboro Generals rally, knock off league-leading Harrisonburg, 6-5
A two-out, two-run single by Michael Brosseau capped a four-run seventh for Waynesboro, and the Generals held on for a 6-5 win over the Harrisonburg Turks Friday night at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
The win allows Waynesboro (21-20) to clinch the third seed in the South Division playoffs that will begin next week. The two-time defending Valley League champs will face the #2 seed Staunton Braves (26-13) in the first round of the 2015 VBL playoffs.
Harrisonburg (29-12) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first with an RBI single by Jared Baker the key blow in the opening frame. A Steven McLean RBI groundout in the second made it 4-0 Turks.
Waynesboro got two back in the third on a two-run single by Clayton Taylor.
It would stay that way until the seventh. Harrisonburg got an insurance run when Tripp Shelton scored on a wild pitch.
The Generals got singles from Taylor and Kevin Phillips to open the bottom half of the seventh. Joseph Estrada reached on a fielders choice for out number one, putting runners on the corners.
Aubrey McCarty scored Taylor from third on another fielders choice that cut the deficit to 5-3. Jeremy Taylor singled and Austin Hale walked to load the bases. Stephen Pitarra was hit by a pitch to score pinch-runner Alex Mauricio from third, cutting the Harrisonburg lead to 5-4.
Brosseau stroked an 0-1 pitch to score Taylor and then Hale with the go-ahead run.
Tyler Howe (4-1, 4.23 ERA) got the win for Waynesboro, giving up five runs, two of them earned, on six hits, striking out eight and walking two.
Frankie Romano pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save, lowering his ERA to 0.54.
Waynesboro Generals rally, defeat New Market Rebels, 5-4
A seventh-inning Chris Cook RBI single broke a 4-4 tie, lifting the Waynesboro Generals to a 5-4 win over the New Market Rebels Thursday night at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
New Market had just tied the game in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Thatcher Coleman, but after the Rebels loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, reliever Alex Mauricio came in and put out the fire, getting Lorenzo Wright to fly out to right to end the threat.
In the Generals half of the seventh, Stephen Pitarra got things going with a leadoff walk. After a pair of wild pitches allowed Pitarra to advance to third, Michael Brosseau walked to put runners on the corners. Cook singled to score Pitarra with the go-ahead run.
Mauricio (1-0, 1.80 ERA) pitched a perfect eighth, then Frankie Romano earned his third save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Waynesboro Generals score key win over Covington Lumberjacks, 7-5
Michael Brosseau had three hits, and Aaron Howell pitched five strong innings, to lift the Waynesboro Generals to a 7-5 win over the Covington Lumberjacks Wednesday night at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field.
The win reduces Waynesboro’s magic number to clinch a playoff bid to two. Waynesboro (19-20) is in third place in the South Division, a game and a half ahead of fourth-place Charlottesville (17-21) and two and a half games ahead of Covington (16-22).
Back-to-back run-scoring hits by Stephen Pitarra and Brosseau keyed a three-run fourth that put Waynesboro ahead 6-2. Covington got a run back in the fifth on a sacrifice fly RBI by Jonathan Corbitt, and added two more in the sixth, on a Demetrius Moorer sac fly and a Sebastian Diaz RBI single that narrowed the gap to 6-5.
Waynesboro got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Austin Hale scored on a wild pitch.
Howell (3-0, 7.89) gave up three runs on five hits in five innings, striking out four and walking four, to earn the win.
Jamal Wilson earned his second save of the season with two innings of scoreless relief.
Staunton tops Waynesboro, 5-1
Sam Vincenzo and Damon Frazier scattered seven Waynesboro hits, leading Staunton to a 5-1 win over the Generals Tuesday night.
Vincenzo (2-0, 2.94 ERA) went six innings, giving up a run on five hits, striking out one and walking one. Frazier, a Waynesboro native, earned his second save with three scoreless innings of relief.
Brett Sasse (2-2, 2.76 ERA) was saddled with the loss, giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings, striking out three without issuing a walk.
Connor Foltyn had a nice effort in relief for Waynesboro, giving up two hits in four scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out two and walking one.
Madison Nickens was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Braves (24-13) with a homer, his third of the season.
The loss was the third in a row for Waynesboro (18-20), who maintain a tenuous hold on third place in the South Division, a half-game ahead of Charlottesville (17-20) and a game and a half ahead of Covington (16-21) in the division standings.
The top four teams in the division qualify for the 2015 Valley League playoffs.
Charlottesville outlasts Waynesboro in 16, wins 4-3
An error and a passed ball allowed the winning run to score in a 16-inning, 4-3 win for the Charlottesville Tom Sox over the Waynesboro Generals on Sunday night.
Waynesboro (18-19) had the Tom Sox (16-19) down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth, when Ryan Larson lined an 0-2 pitch from reliever Frankie Romano for a single that scored Brad McKay from second with the tying run.
It would stay that way into the 16th. Larson reached base on an error by third baseman Clayton Taylor, advanced to third on a sacrifice by Billy Cooke, then, after Seth Lancaster grounded out to Kevin Fagan (0-2, 4.97 ERA) for out number two, Larson was able to score on a passed ball on the first pitch to Brian Fortier.
Taylor hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his fifth of the season. It was 2-2 in the eighth when Taylor singled with one out, then scored on a two-out double by Jonathan Camp that gave the Generals a 3-2 lead.
Waynesboro falls on the road at Valley League-leading Harrisonburg, 7-6
A Clayton Taylor homer in the ninth cut the Harrisonburg lead to one run, but that was as close as Waynesboro could get in a 7-6 loss Saturday night.
Taylor and Kevin Phillips each had three hits and two RBI for the Generals (18-18), and Chris Cook continued his torrid first week in the Valley League, going 2-for-4. Cook has a .500/.545/.550 slash line through five games, with 10 hits in 20 at bats hitting in the two-hole for Waynesboro.
Vince Braman (1-3, 4.97 ERA) took the loss for the Generals, giving up six runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
Tyler Brown (1-1, 2.81 ERA) earned the win for Harrisonburg (26-10), giving up three runs on eight hits in six innings of work, striking out four and walking one.
Robert Pearson pitches Waynesboro Generals to 8-1 win over New Market
Robert Pearson was masterful on the mound for Waynesboro, and the Generals got solid offensive production from the top of the order in an 8-1 win over New Market at Linco Park at Kate Collins Field Friday night.
The win is the fourth in a row for Waynesboro, which has gone 11-5 in its last 16 games to climb over the .500 mark for the first time since June 18.
Pearson (1-3, 5.65 ERA) gave up one run on four hits in seven innings of work, striking out eight and walking one, throwing 89 pitches, 63 for strikes.
The 1-2-3 hitters in the order for Waynesboro – Michael Brosseau, Chris Cook and Clayton Taylor – each had two hits, and Taylor had four RBI.
Stephen Pitarra, the number nine hitter in the lineup Friday night, was 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and four runs scored on the night.
Waynesboro Generals win at Covington, 7-4
Clayton Taylor and Joseph Estrada each knocked in two runs, and Chris Cook had three hits for the second straight night to pace a 12-hit Waynesboro attack, as the Generals topped the Covington Lumberjacks, 7-4, Thursday night.
Tyler Howe (3-1, 4.69 ERA) got the win for the Generals (17-17), giving up four runs on nine hits in six and a third innings, striking out one and not issuing a walk.
Frankie Romano (0.69 ERA) earned his second save of the season, pitching around a walk in the ninth.
