Valley League Notebook 7.11.02| News | Valley League Baseball

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Valley League Notebook 7.11.02

HARRISONBURG, Va. (7/11/02) - Nearly three quarters of the way through this 2002 Valley League season, one thing has remained constant, both Covington and New Market have spent the entire season to this point a top each of their respective divisions. In the Northern Division, the Rebels have yet to face a serious challenge from any of the other three teams for the out-right lead as they own a 4 1/2 game lead over Winchester going into tonight's ballgames. In the Southern Division however, Harrisonburg has cut the Lumberjacks lead to just two games after it looked like the Jacks might run away with the pennant....Covington is 2-3 under new skipper Mike Bocock, who replaced Jimmy Blair as manager on July 3. After winning his debut, Bocock and his Jacks owned a five-game lead over the Turks, who had lost three of four. Since then, the Turks have won three of four including their last three with the last one coming on Monday night in Covington....After losing eight straight games and dropping to 3-11 on the year, Luray has jumped right back in the hunt for the second playoff spot in the Nothern Division. The Wranglers have won four of five and find themselves just a game behind Winchester for the final post-season invitation....Luray is one of only two teams in the Valley League that has not been shut out this season. The Turks are the only other team that has not been blanked, while Harrisonburg's pitching staff has been responsible for six shutouts of its own. The three teams that have been shut out the most are Waynesboro, New Market, and Winchester, all of which have been held scoreless four times....Harrisonburg's league-leading shutout total is one of the main reasons the Turks also lead the league in team ERA at 2.18. A couple of other reasons are two of the Turks' starters, E.J. Shanks and Jason Martinez who own two of the three complete games pitched in the Valley League this season. Covington's Kevin Ardoin tossed the other. Both Shanks' and Ardoin's complete games were shutouts....New Market's Kevin White, Luray's Donnie Burkhalter, Winchester's Cary Stimson, and Front Royal's Taylor Groce are the only players this season that have gone deep twice in one game. White, Burkhalter, and Stimson have all left the yard twice in a game on two different occasions....Harrisonburg's Matt Houston owns the longest current hitting streak in the Valley League at 11 games. Covington's Brian Kraft owns the longest total streak which ended after the Jack's first 22 games. Since then, Kraft has one hit in his last 18 at bats and has seen his average drop to .318, while teammate Joe Honce has moved ahead of him in the chase for the batting crown with a .359 average.