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 Alum, Ostlund Out For Now

6/26/2007 – Daily News Record

Written by Dustin Dopirak Daily News Record Ian Ostlund’s left foot was in the air when it made contact with the ball, coming forward as the pitcher was switching from throwing to fielding position. If he hadn’t tried to move his foot up to get it out of the way, the ball might have hit his calf muscle, perhaps resulting only in a bruise. Instead, the former Turner Ashby High School star said, the ball split the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot length-wise, meaning he probably won’t pitch for the Class AAA Toledo Mud Hens – a Detroit Tigers affiliate – again until early August. "It was a one-in-a-million injury," Ostlund said. "I didn’t even know it was broken for almost two days because there wasn’t much physical bruising or swelling, but then I was still in pain, and I requested crutches." The injury occurred on June 17 when John-Ford Griffin of the Syracuse Sky-Chiefs ripped Ostlund’s fastball back at him. Two days later, when the team was in Ottawa, doctors there found the fracture and he was put in a plastic boot. He plans to return home to Dayton this week and intends to rejoin the team on July 17 in Norfolk. Tere’s a silver lining for Ostlund, however. He was planning to take family leave because his wife, Kari, is expecting the couple’s second child on July 13. "You almost hate to say that missing time is a blessing in disguise," he said. "But from my family’s perspective, it really is." Ostlund will begin a throwing program on July 17, he said, and will likely be activated on Aug. 1. The left-handed reliever might be more worried, he said, if he hadn’t been pitching well for the Hens. He’d bounced between that squad and the Erie Sea-Wolves, the teams’ AA afiliate, this season, but he’s found some solid ground with a 2-1 record, a 3.57 earned run average and 15 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings. "The silver lining is that I’ve been performing well," Ostlund said. "If I hadn’t been, I might get sent down when I get activated."