WP: Ridings (3-0)- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 Ks
LP: Chavez (3-1)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks
S: Flores (2)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks
HARRISONBURG, Va., June 28, 2015 – The Harrisonburg Turks fell to the Charles Town Cannons by a score of 3-2 on Sunday night at Veterans Memorial Park, snapping their six-game winning streak.
The Cannons loaded the bases with a double, single and walk in the top of the 6th inning off of relief pitcher Tanner Shelton. Then, on the first pitch of the next at bat, an errant fastball hit Hugo Rodriguez to plate the Cannon’s third run of the night, which proved to be the difference.
With the victory Charles Town moves to 7-10 on the season while the Turks drop to 12-6. The Staunton Braves lost their fourth straight game tonight, allowing the Turks to stay tied for first in the VBL South division.
The Cannons were led by Steven Ridings’ seven dominant innings on the mound that included 11 strikeouts and no walks. Dillon Drabble and Justin Flores were just as effective as they held Harrisonburg scoreless in the final two frames to secure the win. Every Turks batter but one struck out at least once against Charles Town pitching.
Hugo Rodriguez finished 1-for-3 with two runs batted in to carry the Cannon’s offense.
The most exciting moment of the night came from a hitter on the losing team however. Leading off the bottom of the 6th inning, Shane Billings lined one to centerfield. Rodriguez dove forward in attempt to steal a hit but missed the ball and instead watched it roll all the way to the fence. Billings used his plus speed to race around the diamond for an inside the park home run that brought the Turks within one run of the Cannons.
Kameron Esthay accounted for the other Turks RBI, going 1-for-2 while being the only player on the home team not to record a strikeout. Tyler Straub continued his hot streak from the plate by going 2-for-4. He has recorded at least one hit in eight of the last 10 games.
Carlos Chavez didn’t have his normal electric stuff on the mound for the Turks but still managed to turn in a solid outing. The righty allowed only two runs (one earned) over five innings.
The Turks return to action tomorrow night for a rain out make-up game in Strasburg as they take on the 12-5 Express.