In the first game after returning from the Valley League All-Star weekend, the Turks defeated the Charlottesville TomSox 10-4. Harrisonburg has won five games in a row to hold a record of 13-8. 

Despite the TomSox leading the South Division with a record of 17-6, the Turks have taken three of the four meetings between the two teams this season. The Turks have scored double-digit runs in all three wins.

“I think we’re a better team than they are,” head coach Bob Wease said. “We’ve got better hitting, and I think we’ve got better pitching.”

Fresh off of an All-Star Game appearance, designated hitter Luke Hatcher drove a double to left to score two runs. 

Right fielder Anthony Paskell extended the Turks’ lead in the fourth inning with a towering 2-run home run to leftfield, his first of the season. Paskell is one of three Turks to play in at least 20 games this summer and is fourth on the team with 12 runs scored.

“He comes to play every day,” Wease said of Paskell. “He’s a hustler. He’s a quiet kid, but he just goes out and does [the work].” 

Turks starting pitcher Jason Cheifetz threw 5.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Cheifetz is pledging $5 for every strikeout he throws to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s after losing his grandmother to the disease in 2021. He has 15 strikeouts so far this summer. 

“After every strikeout, it’s the first thing I think of,” Cheifetz said. “It’s always one of the first things me and my family talk about after the game.”

The Turks will face the TomSox once again this evening at Veterans Memorial Park with Harrisonburg having the chance to shrink Charlottesville’s division lead even further. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.