6/8/2006 – Daily News Record

Luray beat Harrisonburg 7-3 in the Valley League on Wednesday. Written By Mike Barber LURAY – The Harrisonburg Turks are 0-5 and owner/manager Bob Wease isn’t hiding his displeasure. "I can’t do this," the fiery Wease said after delivering a postgame speech to the Turks in the wake of their 7-3 loss to Luray on Wednesday night. "We’re 0-5. I’ve never been 0-5 in my life anywhere and we’re not going to have it here either. So we’ll see who comes out to play [tonight]." Unlike earlier losses, however, Wednesday’s loss to the Wranglers (4-1) had less to do with the Turks and more to do with Luray starter Dusty Davis. The left-hander from Memphis took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, baffling Harrisonburg’s lineups by mixing his fastball and slider, before surrendering a leadoff single to David Dennis. "I thought he mixed his pitches very well and he was throwing strikes," Luray manager Mike Bocock said. "He was tough on their lefties, pretty nasty to hit." Bocock said Davis’ low pitch count allowed him to stay in the game longer than most pitchers would this early in the season. "I wanted to see if he could pitch a no-hitter, obviously," Bocock said. "It’s hard to take a guy out with a no-hitter. Now if he had a high pitch count I wouldn’t have done that." Davis came out after allowing the single to Dennis, having struck out seven without issuing a walk. Davis admitted the no-hitter was on his mind in the later innings. "Everybody knew it was there," he said. "You just have to shake it off and go throw strikes." Dennis said he was thinking about the no-hitter when he came to the plate in the eighth. When the count went 3-1, Dennis wasn’t looking to take another pitch. "I wasn’t looking for the walk," the first baseman from San Diego City Community College said. "I was trying to break that up." Harrisonburg went on to score three runs in the inning, but it wasn’t enough to avoid remaining the only winless team in the league. And it wasn’t nearly enough to avoid Wease’s ire. "My guys, we came out flat tonight," Wease said. "I could feel it before the game. We just weren’t here. You’ve got to come out to play baseball." The Turks wasted a strong outing by starter Shawn Joy, who allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. The left-hander from Southern Illinois struck out nine and walked two. He allowed a solo home run to Eric Campbell (Boston College) in the second and a two-run single to Jamie McOwen (Florida International) in the sixth. McOwen finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs and Campbell forced in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh. Bocock, whose team overcame a slow start last season to win its division, said it’s too early to count Harrisonburg and Wease out, especially with a number of players still scheduled to arrive. "He’ll be fine. The Turks will be a good baseball team," Bocock said. And he said not to worry about the players getting down because of the bad start. Bocock said the infusion of new blood when the other players reach town should alleviate that. "Mentally, I don’t think it matters anyway because your guys haven’t been here," he said. "When you get them in, mentally they’re ready to go." Harrisonburg 000 000 030 – 3 5 0 Luray 010 002 40x – 7 5 2 Joy, Johnson (7), Wells (7), Vallen (8) and Denker; Davis, Davila (8), McKinney (8) and Etkin. W- Davis. L- Joy. S- McKinney.