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

Shelton’s Hit Beats Turks

06/07/2008 – Daily News Record

DH From Memphis Gets Double In 10th in Woodstock Win Written By Mike Barber Daily News Record HARRISONBURG – His coach knew it early on. He realized it a bit later. Cole Shelton was bound to drive a ball somewhere far Friday night. It turned out, Shelton launched a ground-rule double to deep center field in the 10th inning to give the Woodstock River Bandits a 4-3 come-from-behind win against Harrisonburg. "The at-bat before I hit a ball to right field and I felt really good on the swing," Shelton, a University of Memphis player, said after his RBI double gave Woodstock (1-4) its first win of the Valley League season. "I was like, ‘Okay, it’s on now." With two on and two out, Shelton drove a 1-0 changeup from Harrisonburg reliever Justin Wood to straight away center, over the head of Chris Murphy. The ball bounced over the wall saving a second run from scoring. But the one run was all the River Bandits would need. Indiana Wesleyan right-hander Brandon Beachy, who struck out two of the three Harrisonburg hitters he faced in a scoreless ninth inning, did the same thing in the 10th to end the game as the Turks fell to 2-4. After Woodstock starter Chaseton Vaden gave up three runs in five innings, three relievers combined to pitch five innings of shutout ball. "They pitched their butts off," Woodstock coach Anthony Macaluso said. "We’ve been pitching pretty well all year and we just haven’t gotten the breaks. We’ve been telling the guys, keep battling and the breaks will start going our way." In fact, that’s pretty much what Macaluso told Shelton after he flied out to right in the eighth inning. "He had some good at bats early and was kind of hanging his head in the dugout," Macaluso said. "I walked up to him and said, ‘Hey, keep your head up. You’re going to have a chance to win this game in the ninth inning. It turned out to be the tenth. He stepped up and probably hit one of the hardest balls all year. That ball was smoked." Harrisonburg starter Garrett Parker, who joined the team Wednesday, was strong through seven innings, allowing just one run in that stretch. But in the eighth, Parker got in trouble and Turks manager Bob Wease turned to Wood, a former Turner Ashby High School star and current James Madison pitcher. With Wood on the mound, Woodstock scored two runs to tie the game 3-3 in the eighth. Then, in the 10th, Wood gave up Shelton’s game-winner. "It was a rough one," Wood said. "We thought we had it. They caught up with us and at the end we were in for a dogfight." Woodstock 000 010 020 1 – 4 11 3 Harrisonburg 000 201 000 0 – 3 7 3 Vaden, Pertuz (6), Kahn (8), Beachy (9) and Villa; Parker, Wood (8) and Pericht. W- Beachy (1-1). L- Wood (1-1).