Harrisonburg Turks

Member of the Valley Baseball League and NACSB.

  • 1955 VBL Champions
  • 1958 VBL Champions
  • 1959 VBL Champions
  • 1962 VBL Champions
  • 1964 VBL Champions
  • 1969 VBL Champions
  • 1970 VBL Champions
  • 1971 VBL Champions
  • 1977 VBL Champions
  • 1991 VBL Champions
  • 2000 VBL Champions
  • 2012 VBL Champions
  • 2023 VBL Champions

Turks Take Down Royals 13-7

Cherry Bombs, Turks News / By /

Early Offensive Power Surges Turks Past Royals 13-7

By: Adam Cherry Player/ Intern
LaSalle

After six days of rest and the Fourth of July break, the Turks were eager to run back onto the baseball field to take on the Winchester Royals. Over the last six days, the Turks were able to jump from second to first place by percentage points.

Manager Bob Wease continued down the pitching staff and decided to hand the ball to Boone Mokry (UTSA). Last time Mokry took the bump, he threw eight innings and only gave up one earned run against the Aldie Senators. Mokry is looking to continue pumping strikes tonight against the Royals. Mokrys opposition tonight for the Royals is Brandon Valentin from St. Thomas University.

The Turks struck first in the first inning of the game. Christopher Barr (Miami) started the inning off with a one out single up the middle. Thomas Smith (Georgia Tech) watched four pitches outside the zone to draw a walk. Matt Rose (Georgia Tech) hit a sac fly to center field to score Barr. Eric Kalbfleisch (UNCG) was the fifth hitter of the inning and he laced a line drive into center field for a double scoring Smith from second.

The Royals were able to chip away at the Turks lead in the bottom half of the first inning. A lead off home run from Alex Mata put the Royals within one run of the Turks.

The Turks continued to score more runs in the second inning. Luke Czajkowski (Wake Forest) started the inning off with a lead off single. Czajkowski’s single was followed up by Mitch Matulia (UTSA) who drew a walk. Thomas Spitz (Wingate) grounded a ball to the second basemen to score Czajkowski. Barr smacked his second hit of the game with another ball up the middle to score Matulia. Thomas Smith (Georgia Tech) worked a walk putting runners on first and second. Matt Rose almost got hit by the first fastball he saw but avoided it and proceeded to crush a three run home run to give the Turks a 7-1 lead. After Rose’s home run the Royals decided to reach into their bullpen early. The Royals brought in Tyler Gibson from the University of New Mexico. Gibson walked the first two hitters he saw until Luke Czajkowski launched the third home run of the game giving the Turks a nine run lead.

After the eight run inning for the Turks, the Royals fought back with a run of their own. After a lead off walk and single, Michael Hyman smacked a double over Czajkowski’s head in right field to score a run. After two innings, the Turks lead 10-2.

Mokry ran into some trouble in the fifth inning, loading the bases with no one out.

Jerry Down floated a base hit into right field scoring two runs and moving runners to first and third with no one out. Cody Bower was the next hitter and he also floated a single into right field scoring another run. After five innings, the Turks still had the lead 10-5.

The Turks dug into the bullpen bringing in Tanner Shelton (Georgia Tech) in the sixth inning. Shelton ran into trouble in the seventh inning where he walked the bases loaded with no one out. The Turks made another move to the bull pen bringing in Brett Morgan (Wingate) to end the Royals charge. Morgan was able to limit the Royals to two runs in the inning. The Turks still remain in the lead 10-7.

The Turks offense was held quiet from the second inning until the ninth. Eric Kalbfleisch led off the top of the ninth with a double down the left field line. After Kalbfleisch’s double the Royals went to the bullpen and brought in Jackson Berumen from San Jose State. Berumen walked Brandon Gold (Georgia Tech) to place runners on first and second. Czajkowski laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners sixth feet into scoring position. Manager Bob Wease decided to pinch hit for Matulia with Jesse Baker (UTSA). Berumen decided to intentially walk Baker to get to Steven McLean (Baylor). McLean  hit a ground ball to the short stop who bobbled the ball and then rolled into center field. The Royals error let two Turks runs score. McLean then took off for second base and the Winchester catcher fired a ball into center field allowing Baker to score. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Turks took a commanding 12-7 lead.

The Turks took the win against the Royals 13-7.  Boone Mokry pitched the Turks to a victory while Brandon Valentine took the loss for the Royals. Brett Morgan got the save for the Turks as he pitched three innings to end the game