Harrisonburg Turks

Member of the Valley Baseball League and NACSB.

  • 1955 VBL Champions
  • 1958 VBL Champions
  • 1959 VBL Champions
  • 1962 VBL Champions
  • 1964 VBL Champions
  • 1969 VBL Champions
  • 1970 VBL Champions
  • 1971 VBL Champions
  • 1977 VBL Champions
  • 1991 VBL Champions
  • 2000 VBL Champions
  • 2012 VBL Champions
  • 2023 VBL Champions

Turks Dump Battle Cats

6/30/05 – Daily News Record

By MARCUS HELTON Daily News-Record Wednesday marked the one-week anniversary of Harrisonburg Turk catcher Matt Denker’s arrival in the Valley League, and he celebrated in style. Haymarket’s defense helped the Turks a little bit, too. Denker went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and the Turks took advantage of eight Battle Cat errors in an 11-4 win at Memorial Stadium. Harrisonburg improves to 12-10; Haymarket falls to 10-13. Turks manager Bob Wease said Denker put together the kind of performance he expected when he got him from Eastern Arizona. "I was told that he was a good hitter," Wease said. "But the biggest thing about Denker is he’s a great defensive catcher. I mean, look at the passed balls, you just don’t see any passed balls back there anymore. He’s done a super job since he’s been here." The Turks jumped out to a quick lead, batting around and scoring five runs in the first inning off five hits and two Haymarket errors. The Battle Cats cut the lead to 5-3 in the second inning after Harrisonburg committed two errors of its own, but Haymarket didn’t get any closer. Brad Mills (Arizona) got the win on the mound for the Turks allowing two earned runs on two hits while striking out seven in five innings of work. Overall, nine players in Harrisonburg’s lineup got hits, with four recording multi-hit games. The Turks were also aggressive on the basepaths, stealing three bases. "That’s the kind of baseball I want to play," Wease said. "I want to run, I want to hit and run all the time…. The guys played hard tonight, that’s the way they’re supposed to play, and of course we didn’t make the errors that we usually make." Second baseman Jono Brooks (Bridgewater) went 2-for-4 with a run scored to pace the Battle Cats. Harrisonburg’s win, coupled with Staunton’s 9-2 loss to Winchester, gives the Turks a half-game lead over the Braves in the Southern Division. Haymarket 030 000 100— 4 4 8 Harrisonburg 520 001 300— 11 16 3 Kiley, Foarde (3), Bennett (8) and Thompson; Mills, Dawson (6), Wheeler (9) and Denker. W— Mills (2-0) L— Kiley (0-1).