** This article first appeared on All Things Valley League **

By John Leonard

Well, the biggest, most impactful result from yesterday is the fact that Covington has shut down for the remainder of the season. If you haven’t heard yet, Brilliant Reader, the team had a positive Covid test, and given the closeness of the end of the season, the unvaccinated wouldn’t have enough time to quarantine and then return. So the Lumberjacks regrettably end at 10-22, in last place in the South.

The immediate impact, of course, is that everyone on the team, save one, is heading home (Victor Castillo has moved to Charlottesville). A couple more considerations are that the schedule will be more open, as Covington opponents now have open dates instead of contests, and all four remaining South teams will make the playoffs- the only question now is who will fill spots two through four. (Charlottesville is quite close to clinching the division title already.) We’re obviously disappointed in this bit of news, but we wish everyone involved with the team good health going forward.

So let’s move on to the three games that were played last night:

Results

-Strasburg 6, New Market 4
-Winchester 5, Purcellville 3
-Waynesboro 9, Charlottesville 0

Hitter of the Day

The hitter of the day is a relatively new player to the Valley; it’s Waynesboro’s Alonzo Rubalcaba, from the University of Kentucky, who, in just his fourth game, went 3-5, with two runs scored, a home run, and an RBI. He’s hit in all four games so far, and is 7-12 overall, with four runs, a triple, home run, four RBIs, and three walks. He has not struck out as yet.

Others of Note

-Jacob Starling, New Market: 3-5, run, RBI
-Nate Furman, Winchester: 2-4, two runs, walk, two stolen bases
-Cameran Brantley, Winchester: 2-3, run, walk, three stolen bases
-Zach Levenson, Waynesboro: 0-1, run, three walks, HBP, stolen base
-Alejandro Figueredo, Waynesboro: 2-3, run, two RBIs, stolen base

Pitcher of the Day

It’s a sweep for both Waynesboro and Kentucky! Our POD is Seth Logue, who fired six shutout, one-hit innings, walking none and striking out eight. He earned the win and a game score of 78. Overall, the sophomore righthander is 1-1, 1.17, with 21 K’s in 15 1/3 innings.

Others of Note

-Samuel Swygert, Strasburg: Three innings, two hits, one run, one walk, three K’s, win
-Alex Nicolosi, New Market: Three innings, three hits, one run, one walk, five K’s
-Stan King, Winchester: 3 1/3 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, five K’s, win
-Elijah McCormack, Waynesboro: Three innings, two hits, no runs, one walk, two K’s, save
-James Vaughn, Charlottesville: 2 1/3 innings, one hit, no runs, two walks, three K’s

Tonight’s Games

-New Market at Winchester DH, 5 and 7:30 PM
-Harrisonburg at Waynesboro 7 PM
-Strasburg at Front Royal 7 PM

Be safe out there, folks!