6/29/04 – Valley League Baseball
VBL WEEKLY NOTES – JUNE 29, 2004 Covington: The Lumberjacks stand 8-11 on the year and won their first three games of the week but have now lost their last five. Pitcher Tom Cowley (Oklahoma State) had two appearances this week and picked up the win on June 21 against Waynesboro and had no decision in work against Woodstock on June 26. Cowley pitched a total of 13 innings and recorded 24 strikeouts while giving up only five hits and two earned runs. Wally Crancer (Riverside CC) had a good week with the Lumberjacks to earn his second player of the week honors with the team. He had four multi-hit games while posting a .419 average and recorded at least one hit in seven out of the eight games Covington played. Front Royal: Gave Luray its worst loss of the year winning, 14-7, on June 21. Jon Love (Kennesaw State) went 4-for-5 with four runs and four RBI and socked three home runs. Love now stands on the leader boards in home runs, total runs and RBI. The Cardinals are now second in the Northern Division and have a 9-8 record. Matt Baker (Catawba) had only 10 at bats during the past week but batted .500 with two runs and six RBI. Harrisonburg: First baseman Joe Kemp (Indiana) continues to hit well after starting the week 5-for-9, including going 4-for-4 against Covington on June 22. Kemp also had the game-winning two-run home run against the Winchester Royals on June 21 in the bottom of the ninth. Pitcher Tim Gudex (Iowa) picked up two saves this week and still leads the league in strikeouts with 35. Damian Salcedo (Oklahoma State) recorded his first win, June 27, while pitching seven innings and gave up only two hits and struck out twelve in a 16-6 victory against Staunton. Loudoun: The Rangers won their first game at home this past week, beating Harrisonburg 6-1 on June 24, and had their most impressive outing in their most recent game beating New Market 14-0. Mike Hyde (Tallahassee CC) pitched for six innings in the shutout and struck out eight while giving up only three hits. Brandon Reichert (Tallahassee CC) picked up four more doubles during the week to put him at seven and tied for the most in the league. He is also fifth in total bases. Luray: Started its season 9-1 and then hit a seven-game losing skid. Donnie Burkhalter (Cumberland) is a veteran to the Valley League and has been with the Wranglers for only 11 games this year and has three home runs. Luray recently made a lot of adjustments to its roster in releasing seven players and signing two new prospects. One of the players released was Brandon Paritz (Stetson) who was batting .273 with five RBI and 19 total bases in 15 games. New Market: Lost seven out of its last nine games to drop to fourth in the Northern Division. The Rebels’ game on June 22 went 15 innings and lasted just over five hours. Pitcher Mike Colacchio (North Alabama) pulled the Rebels out of a three-game losing streak and pitched seven innings giving up only three runs and fanned five against Staunton on June 21. Stephen Faris (Clemson) also pitched well for New Market, on June 24, against then-division-leading Luray while going eight innings and giving up only two walks and fanning eight. Staunton: Staunton has the lowest ERA as a team at 2.95 while the relieving pitchers have the most saves out of any team at six and the least amount of hits given up with 130. Shane Justis (Towson) is batting .339 and has 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts. Quinn Stewart (Louisiana State) went 8-for-14 at the plate and had three RBI, four runs and a home run. Waynesboro: The Generals sit at the bottom of the Southern Division with a 5-14 record and have lost six of their last seven games. In their last win on June 24 over Winchester, center fielder Jesse Ross (Radford) went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run. Matt Bransfield (Notre Dame) put together seven hits including a double, two RBI and two home runs. Winchester: The Royals have won their last five games and took over first place from Luray in the Northern Division. Jeremy Terni (Southern Connecticut State) is third in the league with a .377 batting average and leads the league in RBI with 24. Bruce Sprowl (Louisiana State) scored seven runs, had eight RBI, three doubles and two home runs this past week for an average of .483 to raise his total average to .342. Sprowl also hit a grand slam on June 25 against Front Royal to lead the Royals to a 7-3 victory and took a nine-game hitting streak into Monday’s game. Woodstock: The expansion River Bandits have come to share the lead in the Southern Division with an 11-8 record and have won eight of their last 10 games. Catcher Kelly Edmunson (Tennessee) leads the league with a .417 batting average. Joel Burnett (Lynn) made his fifth appearance this past week in pitching eight and a third innings and allowed only one earned run and struck out eight. Bryan Hierlmeier (South Florida) leads the league in triples with two and is second in runs scored with 17.