Interview: Taylor Sandefur
Taylor Sandefur (junior, Western Carolina) talks with Waynesboro Generals broadcaster Chris Graham about the 2013 season in the Valley League.
Bocock, Sandefur named Waynesboro Generals Players of the Week
Tyler Bocock (sophomore, Stetson) and Taylor Sandefur (junior, Western Carolina) have been named the Waynesboro Generals Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week.
Bocock hit a league-leading .500 last week (10-for-20) and had a .565 on-base percentage for the week, good for third in the league. The shortstop punctuated the hot week at the plate with a 4-for-5 night in Waynesboro’s 8-2 win over Staunton on Sunday in the WSVA Waynesboro Generals Game of the Week.
Bocock is hitting .362 with a home run and a team-leading nine RBI. The .362 batting average is tied for fifth in the Valley League, and his 25 hits thus far this season is tied for third leaguewide.
Sandefur came out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning of Wednesday’s 11-5 win over Winchester and led the pen’s efforts to silence the Royals from there. Sandefur threw five innings of two-hit baseball as part of the bullpen’s nine innings of scoreless relief in the victory.
On the season, Sandefur has a 1-1 record with a 5.10 ERA in four appearances (one start), striking out 10, walking three and allowing 11 hits in 12 and a third innings.
Earning honorable mention status for the week were:
Thomas Stallings (sophomore, VMI) went 4-for-10 (.400) at the plate with four RBI.
Brian Beard (freshman, Old Dominion) went 9-for-23 (.391) at the plate with a home run and four RBI.
David Spinosa (sophomore, Columbia) put up five and a third scoreless innings of relief in three appearances last week. For the season, Spinosa has made six appearances, all in relief, striking out six, walking six and allowing four hits without giving up a run.
Generals TV: Waynesboro 11, Winchester 5
Interviews with JoJo Woods (junior, Central Florida) and Taylor Sandefur (junior, Western Carolina) following the Waynesboro Generals’ 11-5 win over the Winchester Royals on Wednesday, June 19.
JoJo Woods, Taylor Sandefur key Waynesboro Generals win
Waynesboro trailed 3-0 in the top of the first, the bases were loaded, no one was out. Exit Ben Krusen, who had a nightmarish first start of the 2013 Valley League season, and enter Taylor Sandefur, who exuded what seemed to be an easy confidence upon getting the ball from Coach Mike Bocock.
Sandefur, a junior from Western Carolina, tapped gloves with his infield teammates before warming up on the mound, signaling, basically, Hey, I got this.
“I like to let my guys know, Hey, I’m going to go in here and compete my tail off, and I’m going to go out here and give it to y’all, y’all take care of me, and I’ll take care of y’all back,” said Sandefur, who went on to throw five scoreless innings of relief in what turned out to be an 11-5 Waynesboro win over the Winchester Royals on Wednesday night.
The W was bolstered by nine scoreless innings of relief from the Waynesboro bullpen and an eight-run bottom of the first that answered the Royals’ five-spot in the top of the first.
JoJo Woods (junior, Central Florida) got the first-inning rally going with a leadoff single and a mad dash around the bases on a double to left by Ben Boykin (junior, College of Charleston). Then, in his second plate appearance of the inning, Woods drew a two-out walk before coming around to score on an error on a grounder off the bat of Tyler Bocock (sophomore, Stetson) to score the eighth and final run of the rally.
“It’s kind of tough starting off the game like that. You just try to keep your focus and grind out at bats,” said Woods, who finished 2-for-4 to improve his batting average on the 2013 VBL season to .310.
Sandefur, for his part, picked up his first win of the VBL season to improve to 1-1.
“I just went out there, threw my fastball in, tried to control the inner half, and then expanded the zone away with fastballs and sliders, and really kept the hitters off-balance and tried to execute the pitches that Coach Mitchell was calling,” Sandefur said.
Taylor Sandefur: On the comeback trail
You’d have to try hard to have a better debut Valley League season than Taylor Sandefur did in 2010. Sandefur (redshirt junior, Western Carolina) was named the VBL’s top pitcher after going 7-0 with a 2.26 ERA and racking up 60 strikeouts in 59 and two-thirds innings pitched. But then came the injury in fall ball in 2011, and the subsequent surgery that cost Sandefur his 2012 season.
The 6’1”, 225-pound righthander is still rounding himself back into form. He threw just 13 and two-thirds innings for Western Carolina this spring.
His second go-‘round in Waynesboro this summer will go a long way to determining whether Sandefur can get his game back to where it was three summers ago.
“It’s really huge for me to just throw innings and just keep getting better and come back and have a good summer and repeat what I did back in 2010,” said Sandefur, who looked good in his first start of the season on Wednesday, giving up two runs in five innings of work in a 5-4 Generals’ win over the Rockbridge Rapids.
The key: “I was getting ahead in the count and making guys put the ball in play, dominating the inner half of the plate, and then tunneling my pitches with the fastball and slider away, and really just making guys swing the bat and not giving them any free bags.”
Sandefur said it is a “huge confidence boost” for him to get back out on the mound and give his team some quality innings as a starter.
He’s also playing an important role as a team leader as a returning player.
“The town is a little different, so I’ve been getting back and getting a feel for the town and remembering all the back streets and everything. But it’s still the same community, and a lot of great people support the team, love us, love the team, and love the Generals,” Sandefur said.
Ridings, Curtis earn weekly honors
Centerfielder Julian Ridings (sophomore, Western Carolina) is the Waynesboro Generals Player of the Week, and lefthander Adam Curtis (junior, Western Carolina) is the Waynesboro Generals Pitcher of the Week. Read more
Ridings, Stout earn weekly honors
Centerfielder Julian Ridings (sophomore, Western Carolina) is the Waynesboro Generals Player of the Week, and lefthander Eric Stout (freshman, Butler) is the Waynesboro Generals Pitcher of the Week for the week ending July 1.
Ridings went 10-for-20 at the plate with five RBI and seven runs scored. For the season, Ridings is hitting .457 with three homers and 19 RBI and a team-leading 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Stout pitched a gem in a 3-2 extra-inning loss to Front Royal on June 26, going six innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out seven and walking three.
For the season, Stout is 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA in six appearances, four of them starts.
Hoyle, Lucio win weekly honors
The Waynesboro Generals have named Jacob Hoyle (freshman, Western Carolina) Player of the Week and Seth Lucio (freshman, Tennessee Tech) the Pitcher of the Week for the week ending June 9. Read more
