Harrisonburg Completes Season Sweep of Aldie in 1-0 Shutout
W: Connor Kaden (3-0)
L: Daniel Thorpe (0-2)
S: Chris Pike (2)
After coming up on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss on Tuesday night in Front Royal, the Turks saw a reversal of fortunes on Wednesday night. Harrisonburg blanked Aldie for the second time this season, winning its league-best 19th game.
Both teams had multiple scoring opportunities, but it was Harrisonburg (19-7) that scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Right fielder Jace Whitley drove a single hard on the ground into right center field, and designated hitter John Welborn hit a double that skipped right over the third base bag. Whitley scored from first before Welborn tried to take third base and over slid the bag by just a hair.
In the top of the inning, Aldie (11-13) got runners on first and second with no outs before left fielder Jonathan Sarty was caught in a rundown. Harrisonburg starter Connor Kaden struck out first baseman Sean Haden and got third baseman Travis Ferrick to fly out to center field to end the inning.
In the sixth, Senators catcher Eason Spivey hit a leadoff single to center, but reached third after a fielding error. Spivey would never reach home, though; Kaden threw two more strikeouts before shortstop Austin Wobrock grounded out to the mound.
In the seventh, Sarty doubled into left and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but it was the same song and dance. Sarty never reached home, and though his ninth-inning single nearly advanced pinch runner Chris Hueth into a viable scoring position, Hueth was thrown out after a quick throw from center field.
Kaden threw seven strikeouts through eight innings. He now leads the Valley League with 41K.
Whitley posted his first multi-hit game since a 4 of 4 performance against Rockbridge on June 8. He finished 2 of 3 with the game’s only run.
The 1-0 victory is Harrisonburg’s league-leading seventh shutout victory of the season. New Market (17-9) has six.
The Turks are off for the 4th of July, but will travel to Winchester (7-18) for the first time this season on Friday. On Saturday, Harrisonburg will pick up a 0-0 game with Woodstock at 6:00 p.m. that was postponed because of weather from June 23. Following that game, they will play a regularly scheduled game with Woodstock (17-6), scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.