WP: Clements (3-1)- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
LP: Morton (1-2)- 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HARRISONBURG, Va., July 15, 2015 – The Covington Lumberjacks came to Veterans Memorial Park and coasted to a 8-0 victory over the Harrisonburg Turks behind double-digit hits and excellent pitching on Wednesday night.
After a slow start for both teams, the Lumberjacks scored the game’s first runs in the 4th. Demetrius Moorer and Jason Baytop led off with back-to-back singles and Ryan Alvarez followed with a double to score them both. Two batters later, Jonathan Corbitt slapped a single to right to score Alvarez and then scored in the next at-bat when Sebastian Diaz also singled to right. The Turks finally got out of the inning after inducing a 4-3 groundout from Brian Gonzalez, but the Lumberjacks already four runs on the board. The offensive outbreak proved to be enough support for Covington pitching to earn the win.
With the victory, the Lumberjacks improve their record to 13-18 while the Turks drop to 23-10, but still sit atop of Valley Baseball League South Division. Their lead remains two games over Staunton after an 8-5 loss to Waynesboro.
Covington starting pitcher Ryan Clements (3-1) averaged a strikeout per inning in an excellent outing. The junior from Middle Tennessee State struck out seven while scattering six hits in seven scoreless innings. Roanoke’s Seth Bradley was called upon to record the final three outs of the game and Justin Thigpen bridged the gap with a scoreless inning of his own.
The Turks did not fare quite as well. Arizona product Kale Morton (1-2) was roughed up for six runs (all earned) on nine hits over 4.2 innings. Jared Datoc was brought in to slow the Covington attack, but he too struggled, giving up two runs in 1.1 innings. Patrick Herbelin found a way to turn things around, pitching three scoreless innings to end the game.
Tripp Shelton reached base three times, going 2-for-2 with two singles and a walk to lead the Turks’ offense. Trevor Denton also collected two hits, going 2-for-3 hitting in the six-hole.
The Lumberjacks scored two more runs in both the 5th and 6th innings to bring the score to 8-0.
Alvarez was a force in the cleanup hitter role for Covington. The Miami, Florida native went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Several hitters benefitted as six different ‘Jacks crossed the plate over the course of the game.
Speedster Demetrius Moorer collected two hits and now needs only one more hit to achieve 100 for his Covington career.
The Turks return to action tomorrow night at New Market with first pitch set for 7:30 p.m.