8/2/05 – Daily News Record

Turks Top Staunton For Playoff-Series Win By MICHAEL ROTHSTEIN Daily News-Record Belgian priest George Lemaitre would have been proud. Had the mastermind behind science’s Big Bang theory been watching Harrisonburg’s 14-3 win over Staunton in the decisive game of the first round of the Valley League playoffs, he would have seen offensive explosion after explosion. Boom. A three-run top of the first that knocked out Harrisonburg starter Eric Fussell, who also had tightness in his right arm. Bang. A four-run bottom of the first that shelved Staunton starter Wade Korpi and gave the Turks a 4-3 lead. Then came the Big Bang: a six-run third inning for the Turks (27-20) that all but sealed their trip to Covington for Game 1 of the best-of-three Southern Division championship series tonight. "All of a sudden, wham, bottom of the first, we came alive," Harrisonburg manager Bob Wease said. "After the fourth inning, we called the dogs off being up 12-3. It was a good game for us." Harrisonburg won the series 2-1. The biggest individual blasts came from Harrisonburg catcher Matt Denker of Arizona, who went 4-for-6 with four singles, six RBIs and two runs scored. He was aided by second baseman Tony Thomas of Florida State and shortstop Brett Munster of California, who each scored two runs. Thomas reached base in all four of his appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks. "It’s always an advantage when Tony’s on base," Denker said. "You hit a bloop shot and he’s going to score." As for Staunton (22-24), it whimpered out of the playoffs. How bad did it get? The Braves used five pitchers in the first five innings. The last pitcher, David Torcise, threw four innings despite bouncing three balls to home plate, including two that only made it halfway before touching grass. "I knew we didn’t have much behind our starting pitching tonight," Staunton manager Lance Mauck said. "Wade’s been good for us all year. He just didn’t have it tonight." And that led to some big, big bangs. Staunton ……..300 000 000 – 3 5 4 Harrisonburg ….406 020 02X – 14 16 1 Korpi, McGahey (1), Wade (3), Bedrosian (3), Torcise (5) and Bieneman, Engelhardt (6). Fussell, Benson (1), Wheeler (8), Butts (9) and Denker. WP – Benson (5-2), LP – Wade (3-3)