6/18/05 – Daily News Record

Turks Beat Woodstock For Third Straight By MARCUS HELTON Daily News Record It may have taken a while, but the Harrisonburg Turks seem to have finally gotten everything together. Clint Robinson hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Turks to an 8-7 win over the Woodstock River Bandits in a Valley League baseball game Friday at Memorial Stadium. The win was Harrisonburg’s third straight, improving it to 7-6 on the season. Woodstock fell to 4-9. "I think we’re coming together as a team," said Robinson, who finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. "We’re getting on a streak and hopefully we can hit a stretch where we win 10 out of 12 games and solidify ourselves as the frontrunners in this league and we can come out and every team will be afraid of us – just establish ourselves." A day after knocking off Southern Division leading Covington 2-1, the Turks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against the Bandits, only to see it disappear as Woodstock took a 3-1 lead after five innings. The Turks took a 7-4 lead into the eighth inning, but then their pitching fell apart. With two outs, relievers Clay Kovac (Indiana State) and Chad Dawson (Indiana State) combined to walk three straight batters, the last of which scored the game-tying run. "We get a 7-4 lead and blow it," Turks manager Bob Wease said. "They get three runs on one hit, we make an error which opens the gates. I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ … But the guys hung in there. Our hitting is starting to come around. We’re starting to come together, we really are." Woodstock also helped by committing the kinds of mistakes the Turks made earlier this season. With the score tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Woodstock pitcher Matt Mallory (Vernon) recorded two quick outs. Harrisonburg pinch hitter Lucas DeLong (San Francisco) then hit a hopper to Woodstock shortstop T.J. Conroy (St. Vincent) whose throw fell beyond the first baseman’s grasp. "We finally got a break on an error," Wease said. "Lucas hit the ball to the shortstop and got on the base. We got a break there and of course I wanted Clint up there, because Clint has the possibility of hitting it out of the ballpark at any minute." The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Robinson (Troy) pounded Mallory’s 1-2 pitch to deep left field, scoring DeLong with the winning run. "Absolutely," Robinson answered with a smile when asked if he knew the hit would win the game. "No doubt, if he hadn’t (scored), we’d have been having some words afterwards… That’s what happens in college baseball, you give extra outs you get hurt, that’s just how the game goes." Woodstock 020 100 130—7 13 3 Harrisonburg 100 004 201— 8 11 1 Moore, Dudley (6), Mallory (7) and Logan. Ochs, Kovac (7). Dawson (8) and Sluder. W— Dawson (1-1) L— Mallory (0-2).