6/09/2007 – Daily News Record
Drop 3-2 Loss To Winchester Written By Dustin Dopirak Daily News Record HARRISONBURG — The law of averages had to take effect sometime. There was no way the Harrisonburg Turks could continue hitting .398 as a team and scoring almost 11 runs a game. Also, there was no way second baseman B.J. Wheeler could continue hitting a ludicrous .714 and reaching base in three of every four plate appearances. Friday night, the team and its star player showed they were human as Wheeler flailed at an inside fastball from Winchester left-hander Andrew White with the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game Friday. Winchester pinch hitter Will Delawter had an RBI double and a run scored in the top of the ninth, leading the Royals to a 3-2 win and ending the Turks’ unbeaten start after three dominant performances. "That’s not going to happen forever," Harrisonburg coach Bob Wease said. The biggest reason why was the pitching of Winchester’s Taylor DuFrene, a junior right-hander from Shenandoah University. Throwing a fastball, changeup and wicked curveball for strikes, DuFrene pitched 6 1/3 effective innings, striking out five batters, while yielding just one run on six hits. "He threw his changeup and got some guys to swing first pitch and get some easy groundballs," Winchester manager John Lowery, Jr. said of the 6-foot-6, 220-pound right-hander. "He threw his breaking ball behind in the count, he threw it in good counts, he located it well and he also located his fastball. It sounds a little cliché, but he threw three pitches for strikes, and when you do that, you have a chance." The Turks (3-1) countered, however, with a strong outing from Chris Chapman, a left-hander from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The 5-8, 185-pounder said he was overthrowing early in his first start as a Turk, and it showed. He walked Winchester shortstop Pat Robey, the leadoff batter, and allowed him to score on an RBI single by right fielder Jose Cueto of Virginia Tech. Chapman settled down after that, however, putting zeroes on the board for the next six innings. He left after seven with six strikeouts and just five hits. The Turks made sure neither got a decision when center fielder Jon Moore of Purdue singled home catcher Mike Pericht in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game 1-1. But the Royals (3-2) got the lead back in the top of the ninth. Delawter, a junior at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, roped a 1-1 high outside fastball from Harrisonburg reliever Ty Pryor into the left center field gap, scoring catcher Jared Barkdoll from second base to break the tie. "I was just trying to get the guy over or at least get him in," Delawter said. "[Pryor] threw a fastball the pitch before the hit and I just missed it. He challenged me again and I got on top of that one." After moving to third on a groundout by first baseman Payton Seelinger, Delawter scored when Pryor’s pitch to Robey handcuffed Pericht, knocking his glove off and rolling toward the Winchester dugout. That insurance proved crucial, as the Turks scored a run on an RBI single by right fielder Sammy Lee in the ninth but stranded the tying run on third. Winchester 100 000 002 — 3 6 1 Harrisonburg 000 000 101 — 2 8 1 Dufrene, White (7)and Barkdoll; Chapman, Pryor (8) and Pericht. W-White (1-0). L-Pryor (0-1)