Milstead Joins Turks

07/18/2008 – Daily News Record

Written by Marcus Helton The Valley Baseball League’s contingent of former turner Ashby High School players has grown a little more. Former Knights pitcher Tyler Milstead joined the Harrisonburg Turks this week, reuniting with former TA teammates Daniel Heatwole, Josh Tutwiler and Justin wood. Luray boasts three former Knights in Andrew Armstrong, Justin Miller, and Josh Wright. Milstead – a 2007 TA graduate who now plays at Division III Ferrum College – has been playing for the clover Hill Bucks of the Rockingham County Baseball League this summer. "My coach called me," Milstead said, "and told me if I had a chance to go play Valley league, that’d be the best thing to do for me, because I mean, you’re playing with D-1, D11 guys every day. You can learn a lot from them, and it helps your game a lot." Milstead said he first contacted Harrisonburg owner/manager Bob Wease before the summer to see about playing for the Turks, but was told the roster was full. Wease told him to call back though, and when Milstead did on Sunday, there was an open spot. "He said that he wanted to get on the Turks," Wease said, "and I told him that I had a roster spot and if he wanted to come out he could. But I told him I didn’t know how much pitching he was going to get." Milstead made his first appearance in Harrisonburg’s 11-2 loss at Staunton on Tuesday, allowing two hits and one earned run in 1 1/3 innings of relief. He came on to pinch run for Heatwole in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to Winchester. "I had to get him in," Wease said, "because to be in the playoffs, you’ve got to have five appearances. So, I’ve got to get him in, it doesn’t matter if it’s a pinch-runner or a pitcher, or whatever."