The Charlottesville Tom Sox, the 2024 Valley Baseball League Champion, placed five players on the first team to headline the All-South Division selections.
Each franchise in the South had a vote on the all-division team and teams were not allowed to vote for their own players.
Eight players received the maximum five first-team votes – Charlottesville catcher Robbie Lavey (George Washington) and second baseman Ryan Wynn (Wofford), Harrisonburg outfielder Chris Katz (Wake Forest) and first baseman Luke Hatcher (West Georgia), Staunton outfielder AJ Wenrich (Georgia Southern) and two-way player Andrew Shaffner (N.C. State), Culpeper shortstop Connor Maryniak (Charlotte) and Covington pitcher Jorge Garcia (Atlantis).
Lavey was a constant force in the Tom Sox lineup, hitting .299 with five homers and 22 RBIs. Sox teammate Wynn hit .351 on the season with 34 hits, 11 going for extra bases.
Braves’ OF Wenrich led the VBL in homers with 10. He hit .301 and drove in 32 runs. He also had nine doubles, two triples and a 1.027 OPS. Turks OF Katz hit .340 with 12 doubles and 32 RBIs.
In the infield, Culpeper shortstop Maryniak hit for a .337 average with five doubles and two homers. Turks first baseman Hatcher hit .375 before leaving with an injury. He had 10 doubles, five homers and a 1.157 OPS.
On the mound, Covington’s Garcia was 3-1 with four saves and a 1.28 ERA. Opponents hit just .158 against the righthander.
Staunton’s Shaffner hit .282 in 39 at bats while going 1-0 on the mound with a 1.44 ERA in four starts to earn the two-way honor. He struck out 27 in 18.2 innings.
Charlottesville’s Colby Wallace joined the first-team infield at third base. Wallace led the entire league in hitting with a .370 average. He finished the season with a .953 OPS.
Joining Wenrich and Katz in the outfield was Waynesboro’s Kyle Neri (Rider). Neri hit for a .326 average and had 18 extra-base hits, including 11 doubles, four triples and three homers.
Culpeper’s Bryce Demory (Lynchburg) was the first-team DH and Covington’s Thomas Marsala (Hinds CC) was the first-team utility player. Demory hit .314 and belted five homers. Marsala hit .336 with 44 hits, including nine doubles.
Due to a tie in the voting, there are five pitchers on the first team. Joining Garcia are Staunton’s Nate Ward, Harrisonburg’s Chad Harvey (Wingate) and Charlottesville’s Chase Stryker (Coastal Carolina) and Bobby Olsen (Nebraska).
Ward posted a 2.46 ERA and recorded five saves in eight appearances. He struck out 21 in 14.2 innings. Harvey was 3-0 with two saves and a 2.79 ERA. Opponents hit just .159 against the Turks righthander. Stryker finished with a 3-2 record and a 2.27 ERA. Olsen was 3-0 with one save and a 1.42 ERA.
The second-team catcher is Staunton’s LT Cockrill (Delaware).
The infield includes Staunton’s Wyatt Campbell (Florida Southern) at first base, Harrisonburg’s Jalen Evans (Wingate) at second and Jose Perez (Rollins) at shortstop and Culpeper’s Jon Howard (Mt. Olive) at third base.
The second-team outfielders are Staunton’s Ike Schmidly (JMU), Covington’s Spencer Williams (Carson-Newman) and Culpeper’s Gabriel Larry (Mississippi State).
Covington’s Chenar Brown (Louisiana Monroe) is the second-team DH. Harrisonburg’s Jack Canizzarro (JMU) is the utility player and the Turks’ Cam Nelson is the two-way player.
The second-team pitchers are Waynesboro’s Matthew Sheppard (Ferrum), Charlottesville’s Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State) and Staunton’s Grant Donkin (Trevecca Nazarene).