Written By Jackson Campbell
Broadcast Intern
WOODSTOCK, VA – The Turks four game road trip culminated in an 11-7 wire-to-wire win over the Woodstock River Bandits (4-7).
For the fourth consecutive contest, Harrisonburg got on the board in the first inning, setting the tone for an offensive explosion against their North Division foes.
6’7 righty Brandon Hester (Erskine College) took the hill for Woodstock, but was replaced in the third inning by Gavin Hellman (Elon) in the third after allowing five quick runs. Trevor Craport and Jake Lee (Georgia Tech) both played in their first game for the Turks last night, and immediately made their presence known.
Craport, starting at third base, brought Jonathan Pryor (Wake Forest) home in his first at-bat with a sacrifice fly, and he was only just getting started. He singled in the fifth, walked in the seventh, and picked up a triple in the eighth announcing his arrival in the Valley League.
Lee was the starting pitcher for Harrisonburg, and got the win after exiting the game with a 7-4 lead. In five innings of work he fanned three River Bandits and gave up three earned runs, the fourth run scoring on an error. Lee’s arrival gives the Turks some much needed depth on the pitching staff and he showed that he will be a valuable starter moving forward.
Despite never holding the lead, the hometown River Bandits had a pretty good night. Gavin Hellman retired the first seven batters he faced before finally yielding a base hit to Greg Popatak (George Mason) and finished his night with one earned run. Danton Hyman (Newberry College) came in relief of Hellman and showed the best velocity of the night on his fastball from any of Woodstock’s pitchers.
Hyman is an accomplished hitter as well, sitting on top of the league leaderboard with a .455 average and only three K’s. But the most impressive River Bandit last night was 6’2, 208 pound Jacob Tisevich (Southern Arkansas). Four for four on the night, Tisevich racked up a single, double, two triples and got on base a fifth time after taking a pitch to his shoulder. Ending his night a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, Tisevich raised his average to .436 and gave both Turks pitchers fits.
In the end, Hyman and Tisevich’s outstanding performances were not enough to outdo the all-around team effort from Harrisonburg. Led by the Yellow Jacket crew and a big night from Jonathan Pryor (two hits, two RBI’s) the Turks finished the road trip with a 3-1 record.
The Turks (6-4) return to action Thursday night at Veterans Memorial Park to take on the Covington Lumberjacks (3-5) at 7:30.