7/27/05 – Daily News Record

Turks Beat Generals 10-0 By MARCUS HELTON Daily News-Record WAYNESBORO – Now the real work begins. Harrisonburg tuned up for the playoffs by closing its Valley League regular season with a 10-0 win over Waynesboro on Tuesday. The Turks struck for five runs in the first inning, and three Harrisonburg pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout. Florida State’s Tony Thomas led the Turks offensively, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. "Now, we know pretty much we’re locked into second place, so we’ve at least got homefield advantage, which is good for us," Thomas said. "We’re just going to take a few days off and come back and try to do well in the playoffs." The Turks head into the playoffs with a 25-19 record. The Generals –who did not qualify for the postseason – fell to 12-30 with two games remaining. Next up for the No. 2 seed Turks is a best-of-three first-round playoff showdown with No. 3 Staunton, which is scheduled to begin Saturday. The winner moves on to the best-of-three division championship round and a shot at the best-of-five Valley League title series. "We’re pretty confident," Thomas said. "We went pretty much close to splitting with them throughout the season, but I think overall if we hit — because our pitchers are going to pitch well, they’ve been pitching good the whole season – if we hit like we hit tonight, then I think we should come out on top." The Turks got their offense going early against Waynesboro. Thomas led off with a stand-up triple as the Turks batted around against Waynesboro starter Josh Moffitt, scoring three runs before recording a single out. Moffitt lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs on four hits and walking three. Harrisonburg added three more runs in the third inning to take an 8-0 lead, and its pitching staff handled the rest. Starter Stephen Ochs allowed just two hits and no runs in two innings before giving way to reliever Chad Dawson in the third, as Turks manager Bob Wease looked to save him for the playoffs. Dawson allowed one hit in five scoreless innings to pick up the win. "These guys, they were nice and relaxed tonight," Wease said. "I let some of the pitchers hit, let them play in the outfield. … I think we’re peaking for the playoffs, and I think we’re going to be a force, I really do." Harrisonburg 503 100 100 – 10 14 1 Waynesboro 000 000 000 – 0 5 0 Ochs, Dawson (2), Wheeler (8) and Denker, Martinez (4). Moffitt, Tencleve (1), Reynoso (7) and Hutchins. W- Dawson(2-4). L- Moffitt (0-4). Have an opinion about it? Write to: csimmons@dnronline.com