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

In A Word: ‘Finally’

07/02/2008 – Daily News Record

Turks Edge Woodstock, 2-1 Written By Dustin Dopirak Daily News Record HARRISONBURG – "We finally got one." Those were a beaming Bob Wease’s words as he exited the press box Tuesday night, having just finished a radio interview after his Harrisonburg Turks’ 2-1 win over Woodstock in a Valley Baseball League game at Memorial Stadium. It actually hadn’t been that long since Wease’s squad got a victory in a close game – in fact, the Turks just handled New Market 2-0 on Friday. After blowing a 3-0 lead in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Staunton, however, and with the Turks still close to the basement at 9-15 with numerous close losses earlier in the year, it sure felt like it had been longer. "We’ve had a lot go wrong," Wease said. "I’m just happy to get out of there with a win." Like Friday’s win, Tuesday was one of those rare occasions this season when everything seemed to go right for the Turks, starting with the outing of right-hander Garrett Parker. The rising senior at Oklahoma City faced several jams in seven innings on the mound, but worked through them all while allowing Woodstock (10-15) to plate just one run. With a spot-on fastball and dancing sliders and change-ups, he struck out four batters and didn’t walk one. He scattered nine hits, all of them singles. "He was on," said catcher Josh Tutwiler, a Turner Ashby High School graduate and rising sophomore at St. John’s. "He had all of his stuff going for him. He was hitting his spots well, mixing it up, keeping them off-balance and doing what he had to do to get the outs." Said Parker: "I felt really fresh starting the game. This is the best my arm’s felt all year. I just did the things I needed to do to get through the game." That was especially true in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth when the River Bandits put runners in scoring position and threatened big innings. In the second with the bases loaded and one out, Parker got Woodstock third baseman Brooks Robinson to ground into a 1-2-3 double play. In the fourth, after allowing Woodstock it’s only run on a broken bat infield single by left fielder Kerry Hollensteiner, Parker struck out shortstop Adalberto Santos to keep things from getting any worse. In the fifth, he got back-to-back flyouts after putting runners on first and second with one out, and he induced a 6-4-3 double play in the same situation in the sixth. The Turks got all the offense they needed by the fourth inning. In the first, right fielder Michael Precise (Troy) launched a 3-1 fastball from Woodstock lefty Drew Buonanni (Florida Tech) over the left center field wall to make it 1-0. "He was struggling with his command early," Precise said of Buonanni. "He fell behind 3-0 and gave me a fastball, then he gave me another fastball, and I was able to connect with it and it got out of here." After Woodstock tied the game in the top of the fourth, designated hitter Michael Pericht broke the tie by singling home third baseman B.J. Wheeler – who was 3-for-4 – in the bottom of the inning. After Parker finished the seventh, St. Joseph’s (Indiana) College right-hander Chase Sonen pitched the last two innings for his second save in three games. Woodstock 000 100 000 – 1 10 2 Harrisonburg 100 100 00x – 2 9 3 Buonanni, Pertuz (6) and Villa; Parker, Sonen (8) and Tutwiler. W-Parker (1-2). L-Buonanni (1-4). S-Sonen (2).