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.
Evan Gillespie’s Outing Spoiled in Loss to Cannons
Gillespie held the Cannons scoreless through 6 full innings Sunday night.
Evan Gillespie (Faulkner) shined on Sunday night against the Purcellville Cannons. However, a lack of run support ended up costing the Generals late in the game.
Both Gillespie and Will Guay, the starting pitcher for Purcellville, pitched well in what proved to be pitchers dual. The first run of the game came in the bottom of the 3rd for the Generals. Kyle Wrighte (William & Mary) worked a one out walk, Tanner Thomas (Virginia Tech) sharply singled, and Andrew Orzel (Wofford) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the clean-up hitter Chase Cheek (Duke). Cheek was first pitch swinging and hit a sinking line drive to left. Purcellville’s left fielder made a nice sliding catch but wasn’t able to throw out a speedy Kyle Wrighte on the sacrifice fly. The Generals would end up getting two more runners in scoring position, but failed to cash in. That seemed to be a theme throughout the night. However at this point, the Gens led 1-0.
Gillespie didn’t give up a hit until the top of the 4th, but still faced the minimum after he was able to pick the runner off at first base. He managed to get his 4th straight inning with only facing 3 batters. He had thrown 6 scoreless innings when he toed the rubber in the 7th. He gave up a leadoff walk that was sacrifice bunted to second. The runner then managed to steal third to set up Kam Armstrong for a sacrifice fly. The score after 7 was 1-1.
After a 3 up 3 down inning in the bottom of the 7th for the Generals, Hunter Shuff (USC Aiken) entered the ball game. After getting the first out, a swinging bunt started things off. After a fielder’s choice by Purcellville’s leadoff hitter Kenny Oyama, Christian Garabedian stepped in to face Shuff. Oyama would eventually steal second to put himself in scoring position. 3 pitches later, Garabedian smoked a ball down the left field line to plate the go ahead run in the top of the 8th.
The Generals would mount a small rally in the bottom of the 9th, only to fall a bit short. The final score in the ball game was 2-1
Key Performers for Purcellville:
- Christian Garabedian: 1-4, 2B, RBI
- Will Guay: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Anthony Zimmerman: SV (2), 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Evan Gillespie (Faulkner): 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
- Tanner Thomas (Virginia Tech): 3-5
- Tyler Trovinger (Oakland): 2-4
The Generals will travel to CVille Weekly Ballpark to take on the Charlottesville TomSox on Monday night. Nathan Schneider (St. Mary’s) will be on the mound.
Generals Use Huge 6th Inning to Top Purcellville
The Generals found themselves trailing 1-0 after 5 complete on the road in Purcellville. A big 6th inning, along with a solid outing from the pitching staff, prevented them from losing their third straight.
After the Cannons scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the third, Generals starting pitcher, Tyler Bielamowicz (Houston), worked his way through his outing with 6 strikeouts. He went 4 innings, allowed 2 hits and a run. Matt Nickles (Randolph-Macon) came in to relieve while the Generals were behind 1-0. He threw 2 innings and only gave up a single hit. He earned his first win of the year. Patrick O’Shea (St Mary’s) was the bridge to the 9th. He managed to throw 2 innings, giving up 3 hits, a walk, but striking out 4. This paved the way for Gio Soto (Florida International) to throw a clean 9th for his 2nd save of the year.
As for the offense, Jordan Ammons (Mercer) stepped in to start off the 6th, and immediately drilled a double into the right center gap. He was moved to third by Kyle Wrighte (W&M) on a ground ball to the right side. 2 batters later, Chase Cheek (Duke) drove in Ammons with an infield single. Cheek’s single was the beginning of 4 straight two out hits, including RBI doubles by Alex Webb (Chipola) and Tyler Trovinger (Oakland).
Key Performers for Purcellville:
- Jacob Freeland: 3-4, 2B
- Blade Baker: 1-2, BB, R, SB
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Chase Cheek (Duke): 3-4, SB, R, RBI
- Tyler Trovinger (Oakland): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
The Generals (4-3) will be back in action tomorrow night at home vs. the Covington Lumberjacks (6-3) at 7 pm. Waynesboro will turn to Justin Beyer (Niagara County CC) on the hill.
Generals Hold Off Cannons in 9th for Third Straight Win
The Purcellville Cannons entered the 9th inning needing 3 to tie the game. They loaded the bases with no outs, but the Generals managed to hold on to gain their third win in a row.
There was no shortage of hits in the ball game with the teams combining for 24 hits. There were only 3 full innings that didn’t see at least one team scoring, making for a fun night for a big crowd at Kate Collins Field.
The Generals wasted no time getting on the board. In what became a familiar sight during tonight’s ball game, Kyle Wrighte (William & Mary) worked his way on in the first with a walk, stole a base and eventually came around to score on a Tyler Trovinger (Oakland) single. Then in the 3rd inning, Wrighte worked his way on with another walk, stole second and third on consecutive pitches, and was brought in by a Trovinger single. Trovinger also scored in the 3rd on a sacrifice fly to right by Andrew Orzel (Wofford).
Tyler Thompson (Austin Peay) started the game on the mound for the Gens, and worked a stellar four innings in his first appearance back in Waynesboro. When he gave way to Alex Harper-Cook (Tennessee) in the 5th, the Cannons put themselves on the scoreboard with a 2 RBI single from Dillon Reed to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Gens. In the bottom half of the 5th, Dalton Wingo (UCF) stole second to get into scoring position after his infield single to give Orzel another RBI opportunity. Orzel took advantage with a single to center to bring around the speedy Wingo. Orzel, after moving to 2nd base on the play at the plate on Wingo, stole third and was able to score on a throwing error by catcher TK McWhertor to move the score to 5-2.
Purcellville put up runs in the 6th and the 8th innings. Both were Matt Koehler coming around on two Blake Simmons singles. We headed to the bottom of the 8th with the Generals clinging to a one run lead. After a one-out double by Cody Warner (VMI), Kyle Wrighte came up large, once again, with an RBI single to left field. He ended up scoring on a bloop single by, you guessed it, Tyler Trovinger.
However, Purcellville didn’t go away quietly. Matt Nickles (Randolph-Macon Col.) threw an effective two innings but ran out of gas in the top of the 9th after surrendering a walk and a single. Patrick O’Shea (St Mary’s) came in to provide relief for a second straight night. O’Shea came in and immediately gave up an RBI single to Kenny Oyama and walked Jacob Freeland. The bases were loaded, nobody was out, and the Cannons were down two. O’Shea struck out the next two batters on 3 ball 2 strike counts, and finished the game by getting a ground ball to third.
Key Performers for Purcellville:
- Blake Simmons: 3-4, 2 RBI
- Dillon Reed: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Tyler Thompson: (ND) 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
- Kyle Wrighte: 2-3, 2 1B, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SB
- Tyler Trovinger: 3-5, 3 1B, 3 RBI
The Generals will look for their 4th straight win tomorrow night in Charlottesville when they take on the Tom Sox. Something has to give, as the Sox have a 4-game winning streak. The Generals will send right-hander Matt Ellmyer (0-1) to the mound for a good Friday night South division matchup.
Generals Get Back on Track with 6-3 Win over Purcellville
Starting pitcher Adam Tarver turned in a strong start allowing only 2 runs with 8 strikeouts.
The Waynesboro Generals (13-5) picked up their thirteenth win of the season Sunday evening after a 6-3 victory over the Purcellville Cannons (5-15).
Purcellville scored the first run of the game after a sharply hit grounder by Tyler Ratliff took a bad hop for an RBI single to give the Cannons a 1-0 lead.
The Generals would strike back in the bottom of the second inning for three runs, however, as the seven, eight, and nine hitters all delivered RBI hits. The team broke through after a Bryant Bowen RBI double to left center scored Eli Putnam who reached on a single. Charles Zaloumis followed with an RBI single to score Bowen, and Sam Palensky doubled home the third run to give the Generals a 3-1 lead.
Ray Hernandez struck back for the Cannons, however, with his third home run of the year, a solo shot, to make it a 3-2 ball game.
The Waynesboro lead would widen in the bottom of the fourth, though, as the bottom of the lineup came through again. Back-to-back singles by Bowen and Zaloumis as well as a throwing error by the second baseman loaded the bases. Tanner Poole then doubled into left center to score two runs and make it 5-2. Palesnky would score on a passed ball to stretch the lead to 6-2.
The Cannons would tack one more run on in the eighth, but the Generals would secure the victory 6-3.
Adam Tarver had a strong start on the mound for Waynesboro tossing six and two-thirds innings allowing just two runs on four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. Tanner Kirby would pitch one and one-third innings of relief allowing one run on two hits. Darren Kelly earned the save after pitching a scoreless ninth frame.
Coach Williams’ Player of the Game: SP Adam Tarver (6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K)
UP NEXT: Waynesboro will travel to Front Royal on June 27 to take on the Cardinals starting at 7:00 pm.
Generals Pick Up Road Win at Purcellville
After two straight rainouts the previous nights, the Waynesboro Generals (9-3) were victorious 7-3 over the Purcellville Cannons (4-8) Friday night in the Generals’ third road victory.
Despite trailing early, Waynesboro was able to surge ahead in the later innings to hold on for the win. The Cannons put two early runs on the board in the bottom of the first before the Generals would break through in the top of the second. T.J. Condon led off the innings with his fourth double of the year and later scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Bryant Bowen. Purcellville would tack one more run on in the bottom of the innings to make the score 3-1 Cannons after two innings.
Waynesboro would tie the game in the top of the third, however, after a Tanner Poole two-run home run scored Sam Palensky to knot the game at three a piece.
The Cannons failed to score the rest of the game allowing the Generals to seize the lead in the later innings. The top of the fifth saw the Generals score two more runs after Trey Stine hit a two RBI double to score Brent Sakurai and Zach Sterry. An unearned run scored by Poole on an error in the seventh and a bases loaded walk in the eighth made the score 7-3 which would hold to seal another Generals win.
Poole continued his hot hitting as of late going two for four with a single in addition to the two-run homer. He now has nine hits in his last twelve at bats and leads the team in batting average at .362. Stine became the team leader in RBIs with his double in the fifth inning to put him at nine on the year.
Vince Braman got his first start and win for the Generals tonight tossing six innings while allowing three runs on six hits with one strikeout and five walks. Ivanniel Vazquez pitched two innings of scoreless relief while striking out five and Connor Loeprich finished off the game in one inning of relief with one walk and one strikeout. Alex London was the losing pitcher for Purcellville.
The win moved the Generals to 9-3 on the season and continued their hot play as of late now winners of three straight and nine of their last ten.
UP NEXT: The Generals return home to face the Winchester Royals on Saturday night at 7:00 pm.
Waynesboro Holds Off Purcellville 10-6
Third Baseman Trey Stine was 2-3 Monday night with 3 RBIs as he was named player of the game.
The Waynesboro Generals (7-3) got back on the winning track at home Monday night as they topped the Purcellville Cannons (3-6) by a score of 10-6.
The Generals first got on the board in the bottom of the first after Trey Stine came through with an RBI single to drive in Tanner Poole to give Waynesboro a 1-0 lead.
The second inning was a big one for the Generals as the team was able to put up five runs to extend their lead. The inning began when the setting sun caused the Purcellville first baseman P.J. Harris to lose a throw on a routine ground ball by Kirk Sidwell allowing him to move to second. Sidwell would score on another error by third baseman Sage Bruhl. Poole then hit an RBI triple followed by an RBI single by shortstop Brent Sakurai to make it 4-0. Back to back singles by Zach Sterry and Stine allowed Sakurai to score to widen the gap to 5-0.
Purcellville would respond, however, with three runs of their own in the third to cut into the Generals lead. Matt Reed was hit by a pitch to start the inning and scored after an RBI double by Diandre Amion. Second baseman Eriq White would score Amion with a single. White would score later in the inning on a past ball to make the score 5-3.
The Cannons would then take the lead after scoring three more runs in the top of fourth. Another hit batsman to lead off the inning followed by a single and an RBI groundout by Jarrett Clymer scored the first run. Bruhl was able to score on another past ball and Reed would score on an RBI single by Ray Hernandez to allow the Cannons to take a 6-5 lead.
The lead would not last long, though, as the Generals would tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Charles Zaloumis led the inning off with a single which was followed by a walk to Poole and a bunt base hit by Sakurai. A fielder’s choice by Stine drove in his third run of the night as the Generals knotted the game at 6.
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the seventh where the Generals were able to push one run across in a perfectly executed safety squeeze by Sakurai to score Zaloumis who reached on a walk and advanced to third on a Poole single.
The Generals would push three more runs across in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the win 10-6. Sidwell checked in with his first hit of the night and an RBI single to score Stine. Then, on an attempted safety squeeze by Kyle Salladay, a throwing error by reliever Charlie Watters allowed Cory Alexander II and Sidwell to score the final runs of the game.
Adam Tarver was the starting pitcher for Waynesboro and went three and one-third innings allowing six runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Merritt Huber followed in relief going for two and two-thirds scoreless innings giving up four hits with three strikeouts. Zach Neff picked up the win after pitching three scoreless innings allowing only one hit with three strikeouts.
Andrew Green was the losing pitcher for Purcellville.
Coach Williams Players of the Game: Trey Stine (2-3, 2 1B, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB) and Brent Sakurai (2-2, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB)
UP NEXT: The Generals will finish off a three game home stand against the Front Royal Cardinals (4-5) at 7:00 pm.
