6/27/2008 – Daily News Record
Written By Matthew Stoss Daily News Record After Good Start, Harrisonburg Falls WAYNESBORO – The night started out so well for the Harrisonburg Turks. Starting pitcher James Kennedy was cruising through the Waynesboro Generals’ lineup, striking out three of the first four batters. The right-hander from Rider even got some run support from Landon Camp (Oklahoma City), who hit a two-run home run, and Harrisonburg had seven hits through 4½ innings. Then Waynesboro scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth and ruined what had been a happy night for the struggling Turks, who lost for the fifth time in six games, 9-4 on Thursday in a Valley Baseball League game. "We played hard for five innings," Turks manager Bob Wease said. After that, Harrisonburg (7-14) managed just two hits – both singles – while the Generals (14-6) added three more runs behind pitcher Jared Dobbs, who after allowing four runs early, settled down. The right-hander from Tennessee Tech pitched 8 2/3 innings, struck out 10, and allowed nine hits and no walks. "He got stronger as the game went on," Wease said. "He threw harder as the game went on, and he threw strikes." Which is what Kennedy couldn’t do in the fifth inning. He walked two batters and gave up four hits, allowing six runs, all earned, in 4 2/3 innings. "He just started to have control problems," Wease said. "I thought we hit the ball OK, but we just went to sleep after the fifth inning. No intensity. We were just going through the motions." Before that, Harrisonburg scored two runs in the first inning on an RBI single by right fielder Michael Precise (Troy) and a passed ball, which scored left fielder Drew Johnson (San Francisco), who had reached on a single. The Turks picked up two more runs in the third on Camp’s fifth home run of the year, which he crushed the opposite way to right field. That was the last time Harrisonburg had a runner past first base. Harrisonburg 202 000 000 – 4 9 2 Waynesboro 000 060 30x – 9 13 0 Kennedy, Bartleski (5), Campbell (7) and Tutwiler; Dobbs, Grove (8) and Morgan. W – Dobbs (4-1). L – Kennedy (1-3). HR: H – Camp (5).