Welcome to the fifth attempt to rank the Valley League teams!

Stats: Team record, runs scored-runs allowed, batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage, team ERA, walks/strikeouts and innings pitched, last week’s record, last week’s ranking, and then something about the team that seems important.

By the way, the entire league’s slashline so far is .245/.355/.342 (almost exactly the same as last week), and league ERA is 4.40 (Up .04 from last week- hitters starting to heat up?).

Cream of the Crop

  1. Woodstock: 18-10, 157-96 (RS-RA), .258/.346/.340, 3.04, 105/219 BB/K in 240 innings, 5-1 last week, #2 last week. The Bandits ascend to the top of the rankings thanks to a dynamite pitching staff and 5-1 week. The team has four pitchers in the league’s top nine by ERA- Hoover, Wilkinson, Bradarich, and Gordon. Weirdly, the team is 6-9 at home and 12-1 on the road.
  2. Harrisonburg: 16-10, 145-107, .245/.359/.377, 3.19, 102/162 BB/K in 220 innings, 5-0 last week, up from #5 overall. The Turks take a huge jump thanks to an undefeated week. Seaver King and Jaylon Lee are major producers in the Burg lineup.
  3. Waynesboro: 17-11-1, 169-144, .270/.392/.404, 4.43, 112/239 in 237 innings, 1-4-1 last week, down from #1. The Generals fall two spots after a bit of a rough week. The hitting is still the best in the league; in fact, the squad has four players with three or more home runs- Vasquez, Bogart, Felix, and Clarkson. And don’t forget Joseph Sullivan!
  4. Charlottesville: 14-11, 146-117, .245/.367/.351, 4.57, 133/227 in 207 innings, 4-2 last week, #8 last week. Another big change here- Cville bounces up four spots after two monster wins (17-4 and 16-0) and a good week. If the team can capture that magic even a little bit moving forward…

The Middle

5. Strasburg: 15-12, 144-134, .239/.362/.322, 3.95, 126/261 in 232 innings, 1-3 last week, down from #4. The Express is not hitting for power like we expect from this franchise; Robert Kelley is holding down the rotation.

6. New Market: 17-14, 166-151, .237/.355/.321, 4.24, 132/254 in 248 innings, 3-4 last week, down from #3. This team didn’t have a terrible week; it appears that other teams just had better ones. Bryce Fowler has been crushing the ball at the plate- he’s third in the league in batting average and first in RBIs. One other thing to keep in mind- New Market has played 31 games already. If they can keep this advantage, they may head into the playoffs very rested and very dangerous.

Work to Do

7. Winchester: 11-16, 128-145, .246/.341/.358, 4.33, 127/219 in 208 innings, 1-5 last week, down from #6. Rough week for the Royals, but they still hold the fourth spot in the North. Losing Jake Cohen will be tough to take, but Will Marcy is still producing at the plate.

8. Covington: 12-14, 126-151, .249/.348/.347, 5.09, 125/191 in 214 innings, 2-3 last week, down from #7. The Jacks fall one spot, but still hold the fourth spot in the South. The lineup is led by Gavin Baird and Nate Slocum.

9. Purcellville: 10-17-1, 128-160, .241/.339/.328, 4.47, 130/264 in 233 innings, 2-3-1 last week, unchanged from #9. Spots 4-6 in the North have really tightened up, and the Cannons are in the thick of it. Bear Madliak leads the team in batting average, and I witnessed some very good throws from behind the dish as well.

10. Staunton: 9-18, 128-170, .235/.336/.324, 5.50, 156/206 in 216 innings, 2-2 last week, still at #10. Andrew Bennett has joined Joe Delossantos as a solid producer in the lineup.

11. Front Royal: 12-18, 142-204, .233/.353/.298, 5.66, 147/229 in 242 innings, 4-3 last week, still at #11. Trent Jeffcoat and Jo Jo Jackson have really stepped up at the plate, and this team’s pitching is really improving- incredibly, the team’s ERA went from 6.33 to 5.66 in one week!