8-Run Inning Fuels Monstrous Comeback Win

By Chase Kiddy | Harrisonburg Turks Staff Writer

W: Luke Scherzer (1-0)
L: Cam Maxey (0-2)

 

Despite trailing 8-1 half way through the game, the Turks strung together 3 runs in the sixth inning and a season-best 8 runs in the seventh to stun the visiting River Bandits with an improbable 13-8 victory.

Absolutely nothing was going right for Harrisonburg (16-7) early on. Starter Ben Parr gave up five runs (four earned) in the first 2.2 innings. Reliver Brett Morgan came in for the last out in the top of third, and gave up a fourth run in the top of the fourth. By the time the Turks got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, they had surrendered six runs on six hits and four walks.

The Turks spotted Woodstock two more runs in the top of the fifth before they got to work. They added a second run in the fifth, when shortstop Steven McLean took a walk, and first baseman Christopher Barr sliced a nasty double down the right field line, just over the bag. It rolled all the way into the corner, and McLean scored from first.

In the sixth, things really started heating up. Right fielder Luke Czajkowski took a walk, and back-to-back warning track doubles from catcher Joey Roach and McLean, respectively, plated two more runs. Center fielder Thomas Spitz singled in McClean to make it a suddenly-not-out-of-the-question 8-5 ball game.

Then, just after the seventh inning stretch, the Turks teed off. Seven of the nine Turks in the lineup — Thomas Smith, Matt Rose, Brandon Gold, Roach, McLean, Barr, and Eric Kalbfleisch — recorded at least one hit during the inning. The only two that didn’t were Czajkowski (advanced to first on a walk) and Spitz (advanced to first on fielder’s choice). The final line score for the seventh inning: eight runs on eight hits, one error, and two left stranded.

The Turks finished the game out with a nice outing from Virginia Tech newcomer Luke Scherzer, who pitched four shutout innings after giving up Woodstock’s final two runs in the top of the fifth. It’s his second appearance and first decision of the summer as a Turk.

Six Harrisonburg players finished with multi-hit games, but nobody attacked the ball quite like McLean on Sunday night. McLean, who has struggled at the plate at times this summer, finished 4 for 4 with an RBI and three scores. He’s batting a clean .250 after the weekend.

Harrisonburg is off for two days, but will gear up for a home game with league-leading Front Royal on Wednesday night. Depending on what the Cardinals do beforehand, that game could be for first place in the Valley League. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:30pm.

 

 

Chase Kiddy has served as the Harrisonburg Turks’ staff writer since Spring 2012. Contact him at ckiddy09@gmail.com, or yell at him in the press box during home games at Veterans Memorial Park.