Saturday, June 25. 2922
John Breeden
Harrisonburg, VA
13 hits weren’t enough for the Harrisonburg Turks as they lost to the Waynesboro Generals 9-6
Friday night at Kate Collins Field. The loss moves them to 10-8 this season and 4-3 on the road.
First baseman Christian Ficca (Georgetown U) said the team did a great job hitting the ball but a
few fielding errors were costly.
“Defensively, we just weren’t as clean as we needed to be to win the game,” Ficca said. “I think
all around, offense [and] pitching, we did a really good job.”
The Turks scored the first run of the game in the top of the second as Ficca scored off an RBI
single from catcher Carlos Perez (Miami).
The Generals took the lead in the bottom of the second courtesy of RBIs from Kasey Caras (Richmond) and Braden Luke (Mississippi).
The Turks tied it up again in the top of the third as shortstop Seaver King (Wingate) drove in
designated Mitch Farris (Wingate) on an RBI single. King scored off a sacrifice fly from Ficca to
give the Turks the lead. Right fielder Michael Rosario (Miami) scored on a Generals fielding
error.
“They [Waynesboro] threw some really good arms tonight,” Ficca said. “We just did a good job
squaring them up, we did a good job late in at-bats with two strikes, [and] just staying in them.
It was a great bounce back after two hits last night.”
This game was coming off a 9-0 loss to the Covington Lumberjacks where they only had two
hits and four errors.
King said to follow up the next day with 13 hits is “100%” something to be proud of even though they lost. “I feel like our approach [was] good at the plate, [we] left a few guys on but I think we swung pretty well today,” King said.
Waynesboro scored again in the bottom of the third as Matt Ruiz (South Florida) notched a triple and scored off an RBI groundout from TJ Clarkson (Utah).
Harrisonburg fired back in the top of the fourth as King drove in center fielder Sam Schner (Florida Tech) on an RBI single — his second of the game.
The Turks struggled in the field in the bottom of the fifth as the Generals tied the game at five
after scoring two runs on a Turks fielding error. With one out and the bases loaded, Edrick Felix
(Florida Gulf Coast U) drove in two runs on an RBI double — giving Waynesboro the lead.
“It always the error in the fifth inning or whatever that turns into being a five-run inning and stuff starts to pile up after just one of those,” Ficca said. “[It’s] just something we’ve got to clean up for sure.”
Harrisonburg had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh but were only able to
bring one run across, as King scored on a sacrifice fly to narrow the lead to one.
The Generals opened their lead up in the bottom of the eighth as Tanner Garrison (Coastal Carolina U) hit a two-RBI single.
Ficca got a one-out single in the top of the ninth and got to second after left fielder Jaylon Lee
(EMU) grounded out. Matt Kemp (UNC Greensboro) stepped in to pinch hit but grounded out —ending the game.
The Turks travel to Purcellville to face the Cannons in a doubleheader Sunday at 5 p.m. They
return home to face the Staunton Braves Monday at 7:30 p.m.