6/08/2007 – Daily News Record

Written By Matthew Stoss Daily News Record HARRISONBURG – Bobby Spain and Patrick Norris arrived at Memorial Stadium for Thursday’s game against Covington earlier than usual. When the rest of their Harrisonburg Turk teammates showed up around 5 p.m., the starting shortstop and center fielder had been at the park for almost four hours. It wasn’t for extra batting practice – or even because they really missed manager Bob Wease. It was just to keep their minds off the Major League Baseball draft. Spain and Norris, who had three hits combined in the Turks’ 5-1 win over the Lumberjacks on Thursday, are draft prospects and didn’t want to sit around waiting for the call. "Both of them came out and hit early just to not think about it," Wease said. "They wanted to get away from it." Neither Spain nor Norris was taken in Thursday’s first five rounds, but both said they were contacted Wednesday night by teams making sure they were still interested in signing. Spain said the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians telephoned, while Norris said the Red Sox called him as well. Wease said he thought they’d go in the 10 to 15th rounds, even though he said he hoped they’d get picked up in the first 10. "I talked to a couple of teams yesterday and today," Spain said. "They wanted to make sure everything was still the same. That I still want to sign. That I’m still healthy – still ready to go. "They were just confirming one more time." Both Spain and Norris said they are still interested in signing. Thursday, Spain went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the sixth. It was the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder’s first of the season for the 3-0 Turks. Norris, a speedy 6-foot-2, 189-pounder who runs the 60-yard dash in 6.3 seconds, went 1-for-4 with a run scored – also in that sixth inning where Harrisonburg scored four runs. Down 1-0 going into the inning, second baseman B.J. Wheeler got the Turks going with an RBI double that scored Norris, who had reached on an error, from first. After Spain’s home run, Harrisonburg tacked on one more on an error by Covington center fielder Eric Workman. Wheeler finished the game 4-for-4 with two RBIs a night after going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs. He also drove in Harrisonburg’s fifth run in the seventh with an RBI single. "I don’t really have an approach," said Wheeler in between bites of a post-game barbecue sandwich. "I’m just looking for a ball in my zone that I can handle and I try to get the bat on it." The Lumberjacks (1-4) scored their only run on an RBI groundout by first baseman Adam Doleac. It was unearned and the only offense Covington could manage all night against Turks starter David Klumpp (1-0). The left-hander tossed seven innings, allowed only two hits and struck out six. Garrett Parker and Ian Reinhart both pitched an inning of scoreless relief and each struck out two. "I spotted my fastball a lot and my change-up was keeping them off-balance pretty well," said Klumpp, who also has a slider. "I got a few guys to swing and miss on that, too." Covington 010 000 000 – 1 3 2 Harrisonburg 000 004 10x – 5 12 1 White, Santana (6), Brown (7) and Furry; Klumpp, Parker (8), Reinhart (9). W – Klumpp (1-0). L – White (0-1). HR – H: Spain (1).