8/8/05 – Valley Baseball League News

Valley Baseball League News Kevin Gunter (Old Dominion) pitched eight innings of three-hit ball as the Covington Lumberjacks claimed their first Valley Baseball League Championship with a 2-1 victory and a 3-1 series win over the New Market Rebels on Sunday night in New Market, Va. The Lumberjacks captured the Jim Lineweaver Championship Cup for the first time in their five years of existence. Covington appeared in the championship series in its first two seasons in 2001 and 2002 but lost both series. The Lumberjacks finish with a record of 34-16 and went 7-1 in the playoffs. New Market finished the season at 31-22 overall and 5-4 in the playoffs. Gunter limited the Rebels to one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in eight innings of work as he improved to 4-0 on the season. Chris Siebenaler (Florida International) worked the ninth for his seventh save of the season. All-League outfielder Collin Cowgill (Kentucky) went 2-for-4 and drove in a run to lead the Covington offense while catcher Danny Marquez (Florida International) had the team’s other RBI. Lee Tabor (Francis Marion) took the loss after allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings with three strikeouts. His record fell to 5-3. Luke Barrett (St. Joseph’s College) had a solo home run for New Market. Covington won game one at home 7-4 before then losing game two in New Market 12-2. The Lumberjacks responded with another home win in game three, 9-0, and then wrapped up the series on the road with a 2-1 victory. The ‘Jacks finished the season with a VBL-best 22-4 record at home including 4-0 at home in the playoffs.