Kentucky Wildcats Roar Into Waynesboro
Waynesboro, Virginia
Three Kentucky Wildcats will be roaring into Waynesboro, Virginia this summer. The SEC-member school will be sending right-handed pitcher Wyatt Hudepohl, right-handed pitcher Seth Logue and infielder Jace Felker.
Wyatt Hudepohl – Right-Handed Pitcher
A native of Mason, Ohio, the 6’4 220-pound freshman came to Kentucky as a highly-touted recruit. Hudepohl was ranked the 166th best incoming freshman by Perfect Game and the 2nd best overall prospect in the state of Ohio. Upon completion of the 2021 season, Hudepohl threw 20.2 innings for the Wildcats with a 5.23 ERA while striking out 11.
Seth Logue – Right-Handed Pitcher
A native of Mason, Ohio, the 6’1 185-pound freshman came to Kentucky as a highly-touted recruit. Logue was ranked the 473rd best incoming freshman by Perfect Game and the 7th best overall prospect in the state of Ohio. Upon completion of the 2021 season, Logue threw 14.0 innings for the Wildcats with a 6.43 ERA while striking out 24.
Jace Felker – Infielder
A native of Princeton, Kentucky, the 6’2 185-pound sophomore will be heading to the University of Kentucky way of Rend Lake College in the fall of 2021. Felker just completed an impressive sophomore campaign at Rend Lake where he hit .414 on the season with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs and 55 RBI’s.
Pasco-Hernando State Leaders Join Generals
Waynesboro, Virginia
Three leaders of the Pasco-Hernando State College Bobcats will make the trek to Waynesboro, Virginia this summer. Those players will be infielder Jackson Ross, outfielder Kyle Murphy and right-handed pitcher Justin Stewart.
Jackson Ross – Infielder
A native of Lakeland, Florida, the 6’1 205-pound sophomore just finished an impressive season at Pasco-Hernando State College and will now head to Florida Atlantic University next fall. Ross finished the season with a .346 batting average, 16 doubles, 5 triples, 9 home runs and 59 RBI’s while going a perfect 17 of 17 on stolen bases.
Kyle Murphy – Outfielder
A native of New Port Richey, Florida, the 6’1 210-pound freshman lit up the stat sheet for the Bobcats this spring. Murphy finished with a .341 batting average, 18 doubles, 4 triples, 11 home runs and 56 RBI’s with an astonishing 41 stolen bases in 47 attempts for the Bobcats.
Justin Stewart – Right-Handed Pitcher
A native of Bartow, Florida, the 6’2 225-pound sophomore came to Pasco-Hernando State College after time at the University of South Florida and the College of Central Florida. Stewart plans to attend Southeastern University next fall after throwing 63.1 innings for the Bobcats this spring. Stewart finished with a 5.54 ERA, 5-3 record and 72 strikeouts over 16 appearances and 12 starts.
Trio of Eagles Heading to Waynesboro
Waynesboro, Virginia
Three Florida Gulf Coast Eagles will be making their way from sunny Fort Myers, Florida to Waynesboro, Virginia this summer. Those Eagles will be corner-infielder Alejandro Figueredo, outfielder/left-handed pitcher Stephen Wilmer and left-handed pitcher Mason Miller.
Alejandro Figueredo – Corner-Infielder
A native of Sucre, Venezuela, the 6’3 225-pound sophomore came to Florida Gulf Coast way of Seminole State College where he appeared in all but one of the teams 26 games where he batted a team best .402 with a team-high 14 doubles, five home runs and 31 RBI’s. Figueredo finished the 2021 season with FGCU with a .260 batting average, 6 doubles, 5 homers and 26 RBI’s.
Stephen Wilmer – Outfielder/Left-Handed Pitcher
A native of Sarasota, Florida, the 5’9 200-pound sophomore came to Florida Gulf Coast way of Pasco-Hernando State College where he started in all 27 of the team’s games, while batting .423 with 9 doubles, a triple, 4 homers, 31 RBI’s, 44 hits and a team-high 32 runs in 2020. Wilmer finished the 2021 season with FGCU second on the team in hitting, cranking out a .326 average with 11 doubles, a triple, 6 homers, 24 RBIs & 35 runs scored.
Mason Miller – Left-Handed Pitcher
A native of Odessa, Florida, the 6’3 205-pound freshman came to Florida Gulf Coast after being named one of the Class of 2020’s Top Impact Players by Perfect Game. Miller was also ranked the 36th overall best player in the 2020 class in Florida by Prep Baseball Report, the sixth-ranked pitcher in the state in the class of 2020, the 21st-best pitcher in the country in the 2020 class and the 193rd overall player in the country. Upon completion of the 2021 season, Miller made 12 appearances with 4 starts while limiting opponents to a .216 batting average with 17 strikeouts over 22 innings pitched.
2019 Regular Season Recap
The Generals put together their best regular season since the team was created in 1935. They finished with the best record in the league of 31-11. After starting the year 6-5, the Gens won 25 out of their last 31 games. They had three separate winning streaks of at least five games. Those three streaks include the last five games of the regular season that the Gens were able to win. They enter the playoffs hot at the right time.
Offensively, the Gens put up a .285 batting average with just under 100 doubles and 41 long balls. A big contributor in those categories was Wes Clarke (Forest, VA | South Carolina). Wes finished fifth in the league in hitting with a .364 batting average. He led the team in doubles with 14 and home runs with six. Other key players in getting the batting average up to that high number of .285 were Connor Norby (Kernersville, NC | East Carolina) with a .333 batting average with 4 triples and 4 homers, Jack Murphy (Orinda, CA | St. Mary’s) with a .314 batting average with 11 doubles, three home runs, and 25 RBI, and finally, Gunner Peterson (Salem, WI | Illinois St.) with a .321 batting average with three home runs. The team didn’t just sit around and wait for extra base hits either. They were able to steal 65 bases. Jackson Tate (Pike Road, AL | Alabama) stole 12 to lead the team. Kobe Lopez (Orlando, FL | Florida International) stole 11 bases to follow up Tate. Finally, Bryson Worrell (Sims, NC | East Carolina) stole eight to round out the top three. With all these extra base hits and stolen bases, it should come as no surprise that the team averaged right around eight runs per game. The top five run scorers on the team were Kobe Lopez with 37, Wes Clarke with 33, Jackson Tate with 32, Connor Norby with 31, and Jack Murphy and Joey Kinker (North Port, FL | Florida Gulf Coast) tied with 30. The people with the highest amount of runs driven in looks pretty similar to the people that have scored the most runs. Top five RBI men were Jackson Tate with 31, Wes Clarke with 29, Jack Murphy with 25, Kobe Lopez with 23, and Eli Quiceno (Berryville, VA | Gannon University) with 21. Finally, the Gens organization wants to thank our top five guys in games played. These guys brought it every night for the team and never complained once. Kobe Lopez and Joey Kinker with 40 games played, Jackson Tate and Jack Murphy with 38 games played, Wes Clarke with 37, and Ethan Cady (Soddy Daisy, TN | East Tennessee State) with 32.
Those offensive numbers were phenomenal considering the team’s pitching was so dominant. There were some nights where the pitching had to carry the load, and this team could do it with starters or a suffocating bullpen. Our top 5 pitchers for wins include Deven Judy (Belle Vernon, PA | Gannon University), Zach Kirby (Upland, CA | East Tennessee State), Zach Blankenship (Fleming Island, FL | Valdosta St), Luke Short (Los Gatos, CA | St. Mary’s), and Tyler Shuck (Cape Coral, FL | Florida Gulf Coast). The five-man tie for the team lead in wins saw them get three wins. As for the suffocating bullpen, the team picked up a total of nine saves. McLain Harris (Griffin, GA | Young Harris Col) led the team with three, Christian Edwards (Hartselle, AL | Jacksonville State) had two, and a host of players with one apiece. They include Nick Zegna (Newark, DE | George Mason), Christian Dearman (Pembroke Pines, FL | Florida International), Jan Figueroa (Trujillo Alto, PR | Florida International), and Matt Mercer (Chattanooga, TN | East Tennessee State). The team’s ERA was 3.72 and the total amount of runs given up per game sat at just 4.70. The top five players in ERA for the team were Christian Dearman with a 0.45 ERA, McLain Harris with a 0.85 ERA, Luke Short with a 2.18, Jan Figueroa with a 2.82 ERA, and Deven Judy with a 3.21. The staff was able to strike out a little over nine per game to take pressure off the defense. The top five strikeout men were McLain Harris with 31, Zach Kirby with 29, Deven Judy and Daniel Casto (Olive Branch, MS | Memphis) with 27, and Tyler Shuck and Luke Short with 26.
With the playoffs set, let’s look at how the Generals fared against the possible opponents from both divisions.
#2 Seed in the South: Charlottesville Tom Sox
The Gens were 4-2 against their rivals from just down I-64. However, the Generals won their last four decisions against the Tom Sox. The last time the Tom Sox were victorious over the Gens, it took 10 innings on June 21st. The Tom Sox scored an unearned run in the 10th to win by a score of 2-1. That moved the season series to 2-0 in favor of the Tom Sox. However, the Generals rattled off four straight wins to win the season series. That included three consecutive games for the Generals from July 4th to July 8th.
#3 Seed in the South: Covington Lumberjacks
The Gens were 5-1 against the Jacks on the season. The one victory that the Jacks had against the Gens came on June 4th. They also had a very good opportunity to win a back end of a double header vs. the Gens on July 18th, but the Gens mounted a comeback from three runs down in the top of the sixth of a seven inning game with five runs to win the game 5-4.
#4 Seed in the South: Staunton Braves
The rivalry was a bit one-sided in the regular season. The Gens won all six matchups between the two teams. The Braves had a very good chance on June 26th. The bases were empty in the ninth with two outs in the inning and they were leading by three runs at their home ball park. However, the Gens mounted a comeback that was highlighted by a game-tying 3-run homer by Joey Kinker to tie it up. The Gens would eventually win in the 10th.
#1 Seed in the North: Strasburg Express
The Gens were 3-0 against the North division’s top team. This includes the 17-4 victory in Strasburg on the final day of the regular season for the Gens to clinch the best win-loss record in team history. The other two matchups between the teams saw the Gens winning by a margin of four runs each time.
#2 Seed in the North: Woodstock River Bandits
The Gens finished 2-1 against the River Bandits this season. The two wins they had against Woodstock were both high-scoring affairs. The Gens took the first matchup 20-10 in Woodstock. They mounted a five run comeback in the ninth to tie and eventually win the game in the 11th inning in the second matchup. Finally, the River Bandits came up with a victory against the Gens in Woodstock.
#3 Seed in the North: New Market Rebels
The Gens lost the season series 2-1 to the Rebels this season. The Rebels were only one of two teams in the entire Valley League that had a winning record vs the Generals. The Gens took the opening game in New Market on June 6th by a score of 13-5. But The Rebels swept a double header at Kate Collins Field on June 16th. The Rebels took both games by one run. The first game finished at 5-4 and the second finished at 2-1.
#4 Seed in the North: Winchester Royals
The Winchester Royals were the other of the two teams that had winning records vs. the Gens this summer. The first matchup on June 27th saw the Gens pick up their one win over Winchester with a 10-6 score. A go-ahead 3-run homer by Ethan Cady in the bottom of the 5th would prove to be the game-winner. However, the Royals took the next two games of the series. The first was at Waynesboro that they connected on a couple homers to win 9-6. The other was in Winchester when they shut out the Gens 4-0. That marked the only time the Gens were shutout on the season.
Now that the scene is set, it’s time to enjoy some playoff baseball in the Valley League! Game One of the first series against the Staunton Braves is Sunday, July 28th, at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field at 7 PM. The Gens are looking for their 7th VBL Championship and first since 2014.
Generals Fall to River Bandits
The Generals had their six game win streak snapped on the road in Woodstock. The River Bandits out-hit the Gens 13-9 and out scored them 8-3.
The River Bandits jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Sunday night. In the bottom of the first, Aidan Nagle, the team’s leading hitter, started things off with a single. He moved to second on a walk to Lael Lockhart, and two batters later, Nick Holesa drove in Nagle with a single up the middle.
Woodstock scored two more in the bottom of the third before the Generals could answer back. This time, the River Bandits used a couple of two-out extra base hits to bring in their runs. Lael Lockhart doubled to left center. Caleb Ward followed that up with a two-run home run to centerfield. Woodstock now had their lead at 3-0.
The Generals finally got to Woodstock’s starter in the fifth inning for their first run. It was one of the newest Generals that was almost solely responsible for getting the run on the board. Gunner Peterson (Illinois State) singled to lead off the inning. He later stole second, moved to third on a grounder to the right side, and scored on an errant throw by the catcher that was trying to pick off Peterson on a throw behind him at third base. The score was 3-1 going to the bottom of the fifth.
Woodstock saw the Gens trying to make a comeback and responded with two more runs. Aidan Nagle doubled to get things started. Two batters later, he stole third and Caleb Ward would drive him in from there. The battery for the Generals started to struggle a bit. Ward moved to third on two wild pitches and would end up scoring on a passed ball. The River Bandits had a 5-1 lead now.
The Generals again tried a comeback in the seventh. Brad Burckel (U of Houston) tripled to get the inning started. He scored on the very next play on an error by the Woodstock third baseman. The Gens couldn’t get any more runs in from there, so the score was 5-2 headed to the bottom of the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, the River Bandits finally broke things open with three more runs. Four straight singles by Escala, Nagle, Lockhart, and Ward put a run on the board and had the bases loaded with nobody out in the inning. A ground ball to the first baseman with the infield drawn in looked as if it would stop the bleeding for the Generals. However, the Waynesboro first baseman decided to try and step on first before throwing home and that allowed another run to score. Finally, Warnner Rincones hit yet another single to drive in the final run of the inning. The score after seven complete was 8-2 in favor of the River Bandits.
The Generals would make one last attempt for a big comeback in the top of the ninth. The past week would lead people to believe that Waynesboro is never out of a game, no matter how late, no matter what the score. They would load the bases with nobody out in the ninth to stir up those thoughts yet again. Two batters were hit by a pitch and in the middle of those two, a Wes Clarke (South Carolina) single happened. However, when Woodstock made a pitching change, they went to their all-star reliever, Seth Comer. Comer induced a pop fly to left that allowed a run to score but then got a double play ball to get the River Bandits out of any further trouble. The final score was 8-3.
Key Performers for Woodstock:
Caleb Ward: 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Nick Holesa: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Lael Lockhart: 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Ryan Mitschele: W (1-0), 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Seth Comer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GIDP to end the game
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 3-4
Connor Norby (East Carolina): 2-4
Gunner Peterson (Illinois State): 2-4, R, SB
Brad Burckel (U of Houston): 1-2, 3B, R
Daniel Casto (Memphis): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
The Generals (15-8) are back in action on Monday night in a makeup contest with the Harrisonburg Turks. First pitch at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field set for 7 pm.
Home Runs Help Gens To Their 6th Straight Win
Ethan Cady and Wes Clarke each hit their team-leading third home run of the year to help the Gens take down the Staunton Braves on the road Saturday night.
Staunton jumped out to a one run lead in the bottom of the first. A walk and a hit-by-pitch with one out in the inning set the stage for Devon Moore to hit a single up the middle that scored the runner from second. They would hold the lead for a half inning before relinquishing it for the rest of the game.
The Gens responded with a vengeance in the top of the second. After retiring the first two hitters of the inning, things got started with a single to left by Jackson Tate (Alabama). The next batter was Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State). He would fall behind in the count, 0-2. However, the next pitch was over the heart of the plate and Ethan didn’t miss it. He cranked a high fly ball that banged off the sponsorship wall above the out field wall in John Moxie Stadium for his third home run of the season. This put Ethan alone for the team lead in homers over a number of players that had hit two. It put the Gens up 2-1, but the weren’t finished yet. Jackson Greene (Florida State) singled after the homer and moved to second on a walk to Connor Norby (East Carolina). Kobe Lopez (Florida International) came up with another single that drove in Greene, but when the centerfielder whiffed the ball, Norby came all the way around to score. The score after the top of the second was 4-1 in favor of the Gens.
The Gens wouldn’t wait long to score again. After starter Deven Judy (Gannon U) worked out of a bit of a jam in the bottom of the second, Eli Quiceno (Gannon U) hit the first of his two doubles to get things off and running in the third. The very next batter was Wes Clarke (South Carolina). He hit an absolute no doubter to left center field to continue the fireworks. That was his third of the season, which tied himself with Cady once again. Cady had held the team lead in homers for a total of one inning. The score was now 6-1.
The fourth inning would make the third consecutive inning that the Gens scored. Again, they would do their damage after the first two hitters of the inning were retired. A two-out single by Joey Kinker (Florida Gulf Coast) brought up Eli Quiceno. Eli put a charge into one that had the crowd thinking it was a third consecutive inning with a homer for Waynesboro. Instead, the ball banged off the wall and Eli was able to pull into second base with an RBI double. The score after the top of the fourth was 7-1.
The Braves would mount a bit of a comeback with three unanswered runs. They scored one in the fourth and two in the seventh. In the fourth, a walk and two singles loaded the bases for Staunton with one out in the inning. A ground out would score a run and put runners at second and third, but Judy escaped further damage. Judy also got into a bases loaded jam in the fifth, but a couple of strikeouts got him out of the inning and finished his night after five innings. In the seventh, the inning got started with an error on the Waynesboro third baseman. A single by Logan Worley put runners at first and second. Duncan Pastore ripped a double past the diving third baseman to bring in the runner from second. A sacrifice fly by Jacob Selden brought in another run but really settled in Luke Short (St. Mary’s). Luke had already pitched a clean 6th before having just a little trouble in the sixth. After the sacrifice fly gave Waynesboro their first out, Short proceeded to strikeout two more batters to finish the inning. He was able to punch out four in just two innings. The score after seven complete innings had the Gens on top by three, 7-4.
The Generals were able to add some insurance runs in the top of the ninth to put things out of reach for the Braves. But just before that in the bottom of the eighth, Christian Edwards (Jacksonville State) put up an immaculate inning. He threw 9 pitches, 9 strikes, and recorded 3 punch outs. The craziest part of the immaculate inning was that Edwards threw only fastballs. He was bringing the gas and Staunton couldn’t catch up with it. He also went on to strikeout three more in his second inning of work to pick up his first save of the season. Jackson Tate was hit by at pitch and made Staunton pay for it. He stole second and then third all within a matter of four pitches. With a drawn in infield, Jackson Greene hit a chopper to the shortstop. The shortstop tried to throw out Tate at home, but was late in doing so. An RBI fielder’s choice for Jackson Greene put the first run of the inning on the board. Connor Norby got hit by a pitch and Kobe Lopez walked to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed the other runner to come in to put the score at 9-4. That score ended up being the final as the Gens won their sixth in a row and also moved their record vs the Staunton Braves to 4-0 on the season.
Key Performers for Staunton:
Logan Worley: 2-5, R
Duncan Pastore: 1-4, 2B, RBI
Mitchell Guerrieri: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Key Performers for Waynesboro:
Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State): 2-4, 3B, HR (3), 2 RBI, R
Elijah Quiceno (Gannon University): 2-6, 2 2B, RBI, R
Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 1-3, HR (3), 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
Deven Judy (Gannon University): W (1-0), 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
Christian Edwards (Jacksonville State): SV (1), 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (First Inning- “Immaculate Inning”)
The Generals (15-7) will be back in action on the road on Sunday night. They’ll travel to Woodstock to take on the River Bandits. The two games with Woodstock have both lasted over four hours, had at least 32 combined hits, and at least 29 combined runs. So Sunday night promises to be a fireworks display a little bit before July. First pitch is set for 7 pm.
Redbird Freshman to Waynesboro After Post-Season Play
Waynesboro, Virginia
The Illinois State University Redbirds played well enough this season to earn an at-large regional bid. They are currently the third seed in the Louisville regional along with Indiana University, University of Illinois Chicago, and obviously the host University of Louisville. Illinois State joins ECU and Duke as the only three schools that the Generals have players coming late from. When eliminated, Gunner Peterson will make his way to Waynesboro.
Gunner Peterson – Outfielder
Gunner is the son of Debborah and Todd Peterson. He’s listed at 6’1 190 pounds from Salem, Wisconsin. He’s had an immediate impact for the Redbirds in his freshman season. He’s played in 48 games while making 41 starts. To this point, Gunner has a .265 batting average with 11 doubles and six home runs. His .265 batting average is a solid one, but at one point late in the season, Gunner had his average at .303. Maybe due to a freshman wall, his average has dipped a bit. He’s hoping for a strong regional and beyond for his Redbirds. He may also be looking forward to a nice fresh start with the Generals this summer. Welcome to Waynesboro, Gunner Peterson!
