By: Jackson Hephner
Week 3 Recap: Charlottesville surges atop the standings, Covington hovers around .500, and Waynesboro and Staunton hit rough patches.
The Valley Baseball League (VBL) wrapped up its third week on Sunday, and with just one more remaining before the All-Star Game, the season is only getting more competitive. Here’s where the Charlottesville Tom Sox (9-5), Covington Lumberjacks (7-7), Waynesboro Generals (6-9) and Staunton Braves (5-10) all stand after another week of action:
Charlottesville sits atop the standings, but its lead is slim.
After starting the week off with a 5-2 loss to the Strasburg Express last Tuesday, Charlottesville won its next four games to take the top spot in the standings with a 9-5 record. However, the top of the standings are still competitive, with the Winchester Royals, Purcellville Cannons and Express all just half a game behind Charlottesville with identical 9-6 records.
This week, the Tom Sox saw a strong offensive performance from Kyle Edwards (ODU), who hit his first home run of the year during Charlottesville’s 10-7 win over Front Royal (8-7) on Saturday. Across five games played, he earned four hits, six runs and six RBIs.
The Tom Sox will start its new week against the Braves on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Covington wins three-out-of-five to reach .500
Currently sitting at seventh in the standings, Covington won three of their five games this week, including both of their final two, to put themselves back at .500 with a 7-7 record. Their most impressive win of this past week was a 7-4 win over the Winchester Royals (9-5) in extra innings, which was secured with a walk-off grand slam from catcher Jackson Toberman (St. Jackson River State College) in the tenth.
With both the Harrisonburg Turks and Front Royal above them with 8-7 records and the Woodstock River Bandits and New Market below them at 7-8, Covington’s position in the standings could change drastically over the next few weeks.
Covington will return home to face Woodstock on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Waynesboro wins two of their six games, falls to 10th
Waynesboro struggled this week, winning two of their six games and falling to 6-9. After dropping their first two, the Generals rebounded with a decisive 17-10 win over Woodstock on Thursday ignited by a nine-run third inning. Wayneboro went on to lose their next game against Staunton, but rebounded with an 11-9 win over Purcellville (9-6) on Saturday. They ended the week with a 9-5 loss to Covington on Sunday.
Catcher Anthony Lamar (Felician College) has continued to perform well for Waynesboro this summer. Lamar leads the Generals in batting average with a .409 this season, including last week’s six games when hit an average of .467.
Waynesboro will return to the diamond for a road matchup against Winchester on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Staunton falls to the bottom of the standings after winning two-out-of-six
The Staunton Braves also won two of their six games, falling to 5-10 and tying with the Culpeper Cavaliers for last place in the league. The Braves started the week with a three-game losing streak but rebounded with a 6-3 win against the Generals on Friday before beating the Braves 6-3 on Saturday. Staunton then ended the week getting run-ruled by Front Royal 12-2 in eight innings. It was the second time they were run-ruled last week, the first being a 12-1 loss to Winchester in seven innings.
Two bright spots for the Braves last week were infielder Cooper Clapp (Notre Dame) and outfielder/first baseman Noah Canterbury (Fairmount State) who both hit a team-leading six RBIs and each hit one home run.
The Braves will start the new week against Strasburg on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.