Tuesday, June 28, 2002
John Breeden
Harrisonburg VA
The Harrisonburg Turks snapped a two-game losing streak Monday night at Eagle Field by
defeating the Staunton Braves 9-6. The win moves them to 11-8 this season and 7-5 at home.
“It was a great feeling, we came out the gate and scored four in the first inning … and then we
were always in control of the game,” catcher Carlos Perez said.
In the bottom of the first, first baseman Christian Ficca (Georgetown U) drove in center fielder
Sam Schner (Florida Tech) on an RBI single while shortstop Seaver King (Wingate) scored on a
Braves fielding error. Ficca scored off an RBI single from designated hitter Jaylon Lee (JMU).
Lee scored off an RBI double from left fielder T.J. Williams (Notre Dame).
The Braves responded in the top of the second with Cooper Benzin (VCU) scoring on an RBI
groundout from Ty Barker (VMI). Grant Painter (James Madison) scored on an RBI single from
Michael Robertson (Charleston Southern U).
Right fielder Mike Rosario (Miami) ripped a triple to center field in the bottom of the third and later scored on an RBI single from Lee.
In the top of the fourth, Robertson notched another RBI single — once again driving in Painter
to score. Rodriguez scored courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Felix Diaz.
Schner got Harrisonburg’s two run lead back in the bottom of the fourth by slamming a solo home run to right field for his first career collegiate home run. “He [the pitcher] threw two fastballs right out of the gate for fastballs and I knew he had to throw me something over the plate just to stay in the at-bat,” Schner said. “Luckily, I saw it well out of the hand and got the barrel to it.”
The Turks extended their lead in the bottom of the seventh as catcher Carlos Perez (Miami) drove in a two-RBI single. Williams scored in this inning on a catcher’s error — giving
Harrisonburg a five-run lead. For Perez, he said he’s getting back to how he used to hit before sustaining an injury at the beginning of the year. “I’m feeling nice, I was able to get that hit today [and] get two RBIs for the team,” Perez said.
The Braves kept the Turks honest in the top of the eighth as Andrew Bennett and Will Carlone
both reached home to score. The Braves got two runners on-base in the top of the ninth but a
strikeout from Jake Wolf (UNCG) and a double play ended the game — giving the Turks the win.
The Turks travel to Charlottesville on Wednesday to face the Tom Sox at 7 p.m. They return
home to host the Covington Lumberjacks Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
“I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” Schner said. “It’s still early, we’ve got a lot of time [and]
we’ve got a lot of progressing to do but we’re getting there.”