Generals Blast 3 Homers in Regular Season Finale
The Generals came out hot in the early going on the road in Staunton to push them towards a 13-5 victory in the last game of the regular season.
Marcus Ragan (Arkansas Little Rock) wasted no time getting the offense up and running. He doubled into right center on the second pitch of the game. After being bunted to third, Tyler Bielamowicz (Houston) hit a high fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly for the first run of the game. This set up the 2-out, nobody on, situation that Andrew Orzel (Wofford) stepped to the plate to. Orzel would hammer a ball over the trees that stand behind the left field fence. He and his teammates were still getting settled back into their seats in the dugout when Bo Seccombe (Faulkner) unleashed on his first home run of the summer in just his second game with the club. The score after 1 full inning of play was 3-0 Generals.
The Gens didn’t stop after the first inning. They continued in the 2nd where they left off in the first. Staunton managed to get the first two hitters out in the inning. Trey Polewski (USC Aiken) didn’t allow the Gens to go down easy. He singled to left field. Marcus Ragan followed him up with his second hit in as many innings. After a pitching change, Hunter Johnson (JMU) hit a line shot over the centerfield fence to make the score 6-0.
After nothing going on for either side in the 3rd, the 4th proved to be fruitful for the Gens. Chris Brady (Patrick Henry CC) started things off with a walk and would move to second on a sacrifice bunt. Marcus Ragan would come up with his 3rd hit of the night, this time for an RBI single. Hunter Johnson would move Ragan to third with a single but would be thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double. Tyler Bielamowicz would step in and deliver a 2 out double to bring in Ragan. Orzel would single to right and bring in Bielo for the third run of the inning. The score as 9-0 going into the bottom of the 4th.
The Braves would finally get on the board in the bottom of the 4th when Eric Connor hit a solo home run to centerfield. Then in the 5th, they’d tack on another run via the solo home run. This time the culprit was Bryson Parks. Then in the 7th, the Braves would start to make things interesting. Gens fans can’t help but remember the 9-2 lead they blew to Staunton earlier on in the year. They would start to have flash backs in the 7th. The Braves would start the inning off with a double, a walk, and a wild pitch to get two runners into scoring position. 2 batters later, a single would bring in a run and put runners at the corner with one out and the score at 9-3. After a walk to load the bases, Tyler Thompson (Austin Peay) would stride to the mound out of the bullpen to try and limit the damage. He would get the hitter to roll a slow ground ball to shortstop for out number 2, but another run was able to score. Runners were again at the corners, this time with two outs and the score at 9-4. A groundball with eyes would make its way through the infield to put up the third and final run in the inning. The score after 7 innings was a much closer 9-5 tally.
The Gens wouldn’t allow the comeback this time though. They bounced right back for 4 runs in the top of the 8th. Trey Polewski would work his way on with a walk and would be bunted to second. Hunter Johnson would bring in Polewski with a single and would move to second base on the throw. After a Jackson Webb (UCF) walk and an error by the first baseman on a grounder by Andrew Orzel, Bo Seccombe would come through with another huge knock. It was a bases clearing triple by Seccombe that would bring the score to the 13-5 mark that it would finish with.
Key Performers for Staunton:
- Eric Conner: 1-4, HR
- Bryson Parks: 1-3, HR
- Jeremy Cook: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Marcus Ragan (Arkansas Little Rock): 3-4, 2B, RBI, SB
- Bo Seccombe (Faulkner): 3-5, HR, 3B, 4 RBI
- Andrew Orzel (Wofford): 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Hunter Johnson (JMU): 3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
- Justin Beyer (Wagner): W (2-1), 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
- Tyler Thompson (Austin Peay): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
The Generals finish the season at 24-18, 4 games better than last year’s record. They have earned the 3rd seed in the South Division and will begin the playoffs Sunday night at CVille Weekly Ballpark when they take on the 2nd seeded Charlottesville TomSox. The playoffs series are all best-of-3 format.
Generals Win Home Finale Over Covington
In the final regular season game at Kate Collins Field, the Generals were able to push across 8 runs on the Lumberjacks to pick up their 23rd win of the season.
The Lumberjacks had played at Purcellville Friday afternoon before making their way back to Waynesboro for a game that ended up getting started around 8:15 Friday night. With their win in Purcellville, they had clinched the South Division Pennant. After locking up the number 1 seed, they would turn to some position players to do the pitching to save their arms for their playoff series starting Sunday. This being said, their offense didn’t waste much time. They scored the game’s first run in the top of the second inning. A lead-off triple set the Jacks up for a groundball to short to score the first run on the RBI groundout.
The Generals would come in and take the lead in the bottom of the second inning with 2 runs. Bryce Teodosio (Clemson) would start things off with a one-out walk. Jackson Webb (UCF) would lay down a perfect drag bunt that hugged the third base line for a bunt single. Teodosio and Webb pulled off a double steal to put 2 runners into scoring position. Marcus Ragan (Arkansas Little Rock) came through with a 2 out double into the right centerfield gap to put the Gens on top 2-1. They would never relinquish the lead after that.
The score in the second inning began a streak of 4 straight innings with a score. In the 3rd, Tyler Bielamowicz (Houston) started the inning off by getting on base via Covington error. After 2 wild pitches, Andrew Orzel (Wofford) would send a flyball deep to centerfield for a sacrifice fly. In the 4th, Jackson Webb would lead off with a double and move to third on a balk. Trey Polewski (USC Aiken) was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corner. Hunter Johnson (JMU) would bring in a run on his first RBI of the summer on a sacrifice fly to left. Tyler Bielamowicz wouldn’t waste any time after the sac fly. He ripped the first pitch into left center field to score Polewski. After 4 complete innings the score stood at 5-1 in favor of the Generals.
Covington would mount a bit of a comeback in the 5th. The first two hitters worked their way on by walk and hit-by-pitch. A stolen base and a passed ball would move runners into scoring position. The Jacks would then put together back-to-back RBI groundouts for two runs in the inning to make the score 5-3.
The Gens would respond in the same inning on one swing of the bat. Bryce Teodosio would unload on his 5th home run of the summer in the bottom of the 5th to lengthen the lead just a little more. The score was now 6-3. After a quiet 6th inning, the Generals would score in the bottom of the 7th, making it 5 out of their last 6 innings with a run scored. Andrew Orzel started things off with a double. He was brought in on a triple down the right field line by Joe Bellini (Cincinnati). Bellini would score on a sacrifice fly by Jackson Webb. That made the score 8-3 late in the game.
The Jacks would add one more run in the top of the 8th when a lead off single moved to second on a ground ball to short. He was then brought into score on a single to left to bring the score to its final mark of 8-4.
Key Performers for Covington:
- Max Law: 2-5, 2B
- Connor Hood: 1-2, 3B, R
- Tyler Hill: 1-2, 2 BB, R, 2 SB
- Jordyn Eglite: 2-3, RBI
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
- Marcus Ragan (Arkansas Little Rock): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- Andrew Orzel (Wofford): 1-2, 2B, RBI
- Bryce Teodosio (Clemson): 1-2, HR, SB, RBI, 2 R
- Jackson Webb (UCF): 2-3, 2B, RBI, SB, 2 R
The Generals (23-18) will travel to Staunton tomorrow to take on the Braves in the last game of the regular season. A game that will play large on the playoff picture. The Harrisonburg Turks need to beat Charlottesville and also need the Gens to take down the Braves to get the 4th spot. The Braves only need a loss by Harrisonburg OR a victory over our Gens.
