VALLEY LEAGUE NOTEBOOK 6/23/03| News | Valley League Baseball

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VALLEY LEAGUE NOTEBOOK 6/23/03

Player of the Week - Mother Nature. Due to numerous weather-related postponements this week, the player of the week and pitcher of the week awards will not be given. There were 16 games postponed this week, 10 were played. Winchester played only one game during the week, a 4-1 win over Front Royal back on Monday. The total number of postponements for the 2003 season is now at 31, while the number of games played to date is 30.

Team Reports

Covington- The Lumberjacks have dropped five of their last six games after a 3-1 start. The Jacks have been shutout in three of the five losses, a feat that was accomplished by opposing pitching staffs only once in the entire 2002 season. Outfielder Craig Bartosh (Oklahoma State) hit .400 last week (6-for-15) with seven RBI. Coming into the week, Bartosh was hitting .190 with three RBI, all three of which came in a 10-1 win over Waynesboro on June 12. Fellow Cowboy teammate Tom Cowley struck out 10 batters in his start against Luray on Friday. Cowley worked five innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and one walk, but received no decision in the Jacks' 5-2 win. Infielder Tyler Scarbrough (Mississippi State) has been Covington's best offensive performer through its first 10 games. Scarbrough is hitting .407, leads the team with 11 hits and is tied for the team lead with six runs. Scarbrough has also walked five times for a .500 on base percentage. The Jacks are scheduled to play a doubleheader Sunday at Luray, making them one of six teams slated to play eight games this week.

Front Royal- The Cardinals played only two games last week, a 4-1 loss to Winchester on Monday, and a 12-1 loss to the New Market on Sunday. The Cardinals' offense has been cold to start the season hitting .221, ranking seventh in the league, through their first six games. The Cardinals' pitching staff has kept the club in the majority of its games, with the exception of the loss to New Market Sunday. The Cardinals' staff sports the fourth-best ERA in the league at 3.35, and turned in its best performance in the Cards' 3-0 win over Covington on June 15. Right-handed starter Travis King (Kennesaw State) held the Jacks to five hits over 6 2/3 innings before giving way to Jason Sharp, who retired the only batter he faced to get the Cards out of the seventh inning. Chris Merchant (Mars Hill) allowed one hit over the final two innings to earn the save and complete the shutout. Front Royal will host Waynesboro in a doubleheader Saturday, one of three twinbills the Cardinals have scheduled in effort to make up postponed games.

Harrisonburg- Turks' starter E.J. Shanks (Oklahoma City) flirted with a no-hitter for 5 2/3 innings against Covington on Saturday before giving up a bloop single to Tyler Scarbrough over a leaping second baseman Moises Duran. The single was the only hit allowed by Shanks, who gave way to reliever Grant Hansen (Oklahoma City) after striking out seven and walking three in eight innings. Shanks lowered his ERA to 0.53 and is a perfect 2-0 in two starts for the Turks. Hansen has allowed one hit in 7 2/3 innings of relief this season. The Turks' pitching staff has two shutouts to their credit, both coming against Southern Division-rival Covington, and has the league's second-best ERA at 1.94. The Turks lead the league in stolen bases, swiping 18 of 20 attempted stolen bases through their first nine games. The Turks' top threat on the bases has been outfielder Billy Kovatch (North Florida) who is a perfect 6-for-6.

Luray- First baseman Donnie Burkhalter (Seminole C.C.), who tied for the league-lead in home runs in 2002, has six hits in six games this season, two of which are home runs. Second baseman Dennis Diaz (Florida International) has the second-best batting average in the league at .436. The Wranglers are the league's top defensive team through their first six games, committing only three errors in the six games. Right-hander Kevin Cassidy (Centenary) has made two starts for the Wranglers and is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA. Cassidy's best outing came against New Market on Monday, when he held the Rebels to four hits and struck out nine over eight shutout innings. Adam Kroft (Albany) relieved Cassidy and allowed two singles in the ninth before inducing a game-ending double play to preserve the shutout and a 2-0 win for the Wranglers in the first installment of the battle of the mountain.

New Market- The defending Valley League champions have won six of seven after a 3-2 season-opening loss at Winchester on June 6. The Rebels boast the league's top ERA at 1.44 and the league's second-best batting average at .255. The Rebels have won three straight and the pitching staff has allowed one run during the streak. The wins include a 3-0 shutout of Waynesboro, a 5-0 win over Staunton and a 12-1 drubbing of Front Royal. The Rebels also shutout Waynesboro 2-0 on June 8. Right-hander Joel Sayre (Georgia College) has made two starts and two relief appearances and is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA and two saves. Outfielder Kevin White (Presbyterian) hit two home runs in the Rebels 12-1 win Sunday, and has four home runs on the season, four more than Front Royal and Winchester have as a team. White tied for the league-lead in home runs (10) in 2002 with Luray's Donnie Burkhalter. The Rebels are one of two teams that are not scheduled to play eight games this week.

Staunton- The Braves topped Harrisonburg 5-2 Sunday night to tie the Turks for first place in the Southern Division, although the Braves do hold the edge based on winning percentage. Starter Chap Morris (Tusculum) held the Turks to two runs, one of which was earned, on seven hits over eight innings. Morris did not allow a walk and fanned seven Turks to pick up his first win of the season. As a team, the Braves are hitting a league-best .269 and have been led by first baseman Chris Hyde (Austin Peay). Hyde is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with two doubles, a home run and four RBI. The Braves rallied from an 7-1 deficit in the third inning at Covington Monday night to beat the Lumberjacks 9-8. Trailing 8-7 in the top of the ninth, the Braves scored the tying run a balk by Lumberjacks' reliever Derek Rawlings and scored the winning run on an RBI-single by George Hanger (Tusculum). The Braves are the other team not scheduled to play eight games this week.

Waynesboro- The Generals are hitting a league-low .135 and also have the league's highest ERA at 3.60. Infielder Matt Edwards (Notre Dame) has started the season 0-for-23, a far cry from his career-season with the Irish. Edwards hit .376 for the Irish, with eight home runs and 69 RBI in 62 games. Right-handed starter Derrick Hawk (Western Carolina) owns both of the Generals' victories, going 2-0 with 2.25 ERA in two starts. Hawk struck out seven and held Covington to one run on five hits over six innings to pick up the win Sunday night. Covington loaded the bases with three consecutive singles with one out in the bottom of the ninth, before Generals' closer Justin Ramsey (Oral Roberts) got Doug Nelms to ground into a game-ending double play for his second save.

Winchester- The Royals have won four of their last five, including three straight, but only played once this week beating Front Royal 4-1 on Monday. The Royals rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth off four different Front Royal relievers in the inning. The Royals got RBI-singles from Mike Hnytka (Auburn) and Aric Green (Texas-San Antonio) after scoring the first two runs of the inning on a fielder's choice and a throwing error. Infielder Bryan Russo (Illinois-Chicago) is 7-for-14 (.500) at the plate in five games and has hit safely in all of them. Antoan Richardson (Palm Beach C.C.) leads the league in stolen bases with seven and is a perfect 7-for-7 on the base paths.