NEW MARKET, Va., June 12, 2015 – The New Market Rebels defeated the Harrisonburg Turks 3-1 at Rebels Park on Thursday night. Rebels pitcher Alex Britt threw seven scoreless innings to help New Market beat Harrisonburg for the second time this season.
Britt (1-0) from the University of North Carolina Pembroke threw seven scoreless innings allowing only four hits, no runs, two walks and eight strikeouts for the Rebels. Relief pitcher Andrew White from the College of William and Mary came in to retire two hitters in the eighth. Then St. Joseph’s University product Steven Powles came in to pitch the last 1.1 innings of the game only allowing a two-out RBI single to the Turks Joe Lytle, to record his first save of the season.
Rebels outfielder PJ DeMeo (University of Pittsburgh) hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning going 1-for-4. Zach Callahan (Francis Marion University) went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Rebels outfielder Levi Wright (Belmont Abbey) contributed an RBI groundout.
Turks starting pitcher Jordan Meyer (0-2) (LaSalle) fell in his second straight start against New Market. His final line five innings, four hits, two runs (two earned), four walks and four strikeouts. Tucker McCoy (James Madison) came in after Meyer and pitched two innings, allowing one hit (the home run to DeMeo), one walk and striking out two. Duke pitcher James Ziemba came in the ninth and allowed a hit but struck out three batters, pitching a scoreless ninth for the Turks.
The Turks hit a lot of balls hard but only recorded seven hits on the night. Joe Lytle from Oklahoma City went 3 for 5 with an RBI single, the lone RBI on the night for the Turks. Steven McLean from Baylor went 1 for 4 with a run scored.
The Rebels scored single runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings. In the first inning, with Rebels second baseman Nate Blanchard on first and none out Callahan stepped in and drilled an RBI double to left-center. In the fourth inning, with runners on the corners and one out. Rebels outfielder Levi Wright hit a ground ball to Turks first baseman Morgan Bunting who looked home before flipping to Meyer, the pitcher, covering first for the second out of the inning allowing the runner from third to score the second run of the ball game for the Rebels. Then in the seventh inning, Tucker McCoy working on his second inning of relief, with one out DeMeo hit the first pitch of the at-bat over the fence in straight away left-field for his first home run of the season, extending the Rebels lead to 3-0.
The Turks scored their only run in the ninth inning. On a two-out RBI single by Oklahoma City right fielder Joe Lytle. The Turks had multiple chances to score throughout the game. In the second inning with runners on first and second and two-out McLean hit a line-drive right at the left-fielder. In the fourth inning, with runners on first and second and two-out Turks third baseman Tyler Straub popped up to the first baseman. The Turks had the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning, and pinch hitter Shane Billings grounded out to third on the first pitch of the at-bat. In the ninth inning, after Lytle’s RBI single, as the tying run at the plate Baylor first baseman Aaron Dodson flied out to center to end the game.
The Harrisonburg Turks head to Charlottesville Saturday night to take on the Tom Sox for the first time in their history. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.