On Wednesday, June 21st the VBL Announced its selections for the 2023 All Star Game to be held at Bing Crosby Stadium on June 25th in Front Royal, VA. The All-Star Selections encompass ballplayers from every team in the Valley. The Teams will be divided into North and South Divisions. The Northern Division will comprise of members of the Winchester Royals, Purcellville Cannons, New Market Rebels, Strasburg Express, Front Royal Cardinals and Woodstock Riverbandits. The Southern Division will consist of members of Culpeper Cavaliers, Harrisonburg Turks, Charlottesville TomSox, Covington Lumberjacks, Waynesboro Generals, and Staunton Braves.
The North All Stars will be coached by Mike Smith of the Winchester Royals. The summer of 2023 will be Mike Smith’s 18th year in the Valley League. Mike began his career in Front Royal with stops in Winchester, Strasburg, Purcellville and back to Winchester. Mike took over the head coaching duties in Winchester in 2019. Mike is in his 30th year of coaching high school baseball. He is the HC at Clarke County HS in Berryville VA. He also coached at Shenandoah University in Winchester VA. Mike was an associate scout with the KC Royals (MLB) for many years. Mike currently resides in Rippon WV with his wife Ann and 2 dogs (Buddy & Okie). Mike has a daughter Kylie Whitaker who is a kindergarten teacher in Berryville VA and is married to Dalton Whitaker a former RHP at Winthrop University.
The South All Stars will be coached by Lyndon Coleman of the Charlottesville TomSox. Lyndon Coleman is in his fifth season as head coach at Pasco Hernando State College and his first as the Skipper of the TomSox. He previously was the manager of the Winchester Royals for two seasons. Prior to becoming the head coach at PHSC, Coleman was the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three years under Steve Winterling, PHSC athletic director. During Coleman’s tenure, PHSC has a 219-125-1 record overall and a 126-75 record as head coach. Coleman picked up his 100th win in just his 3rd full season as head coach against Hillsborough Community College on March 7, 2022 with a 15-3 win. Coleman has five NJCAA Dll Region 8 championships and five trips to the NJCAA Dll Southeast District 10 Tournament in North Carolina. For the first six years of Coleman’s coaching tenure at PHSC was not in a conference. In the first year of the Sun-Lakes Conference, Coleman won the regular season conference championship. In 2019 as Coleman’s first season as PHSC head coach, he led the Bobcats to a third-place finish at the NJCAA DII World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. For this accomplishment Coleman was awarded coach of the year honors by the NJCAA and the American Baseball Coaches Association for the Southeast District.
The Rosters are as follows:
NORTH
- Winchester Royals:
- INF Danny Baez L/R 6’1 200lbs Indian River State College
- INF Jancarlos Colon R/R 6’0 150lbs Delaware State University
- INF Tyler Cox L/R 6’1 205lbs Eckerd College
- OF Joshua Hogue L/L 6’2 190lbs Sante Fe Community College
- OF Jack Hay L/R 6’0 195lbs Alabama State University
- RHP Jarrod Jenkins S/R 6’3 200lbs Dallas Baptist University
- LHP Adiel Melendez L/L 6’0 219lbs Alabama State University
- Purcellville Cannons:
- UTL Mikey Briton L/R 5’10 190lbs University of Arkansas Ft. Smith
- INF Cullen Horowicz R/R 6’4 235lbs University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- C Jose Torres R/R 5’10 204lbs University of Louisiana Lafayette
- DH Ryne Guida R/R 6’1 225lbs Florida International University
- RHP Mac Ayres R/R 6’3 195lbs University of Purdue Ft. Wayne
- RHP Mauricio Rodriguez R/R 6’2 215lbs Rice University
- Strasburg Express:
- INF Victor Castillo L/R 5’11 195lbs Liberty University
- C Logan Vaughan S/R 6’1 200lbs Texas A&M Corpus Cristi
- OF Jacob Friend L/R 6’1 190lbs Davidson College
- LHP Max Kuhle L/L 6’2 205lbs James Madison University
- RHP Matt Dickey R/R 6’2 225lbs Emmanuel College
- Front Royal Cardinals:
- RHP Andres Camargo R/R 5’10 165lbs East Georgia College
- LHP Bryce Fisher L/L 6’4 225lbs University of North Carolina Asheville
- INF Eli Burwash R/R 5’10 185lbs Western Kentucky University
- C Robert Mozeley L/R 5’11 180lbs University of North Carolina Greensboro
- OF Jaden Anderson R/L 5’9 205lbs Georgia State University
- Woodstock River Bandits:
- OF RJ Stinson R/R 5’10 220lbs William Carey University
- OF Tomas Sanchez R/R 6’2 210lbs Texas Wesleyan University
- OF Hunter Smith R/R 5’11 190lbs Wharton County Junior College
- RHP Bere Bauers R/R 5’11 185lbs Randolph-Macon College
- New Market Rebels:
- INF Bryce Safferwich R/R 6’0 183lbs Florida Southern College
- RHP Anthony Pass R/R 6’2 225lbs Washington & Jefferson College
- OF El Rico Riley R/R 6’1 210lbs Florida Southern College
- LHP Danny Eden L/L 6’0 195lbs Penn State Harrisburg
SOUTH
- Charlottesville Tom Sox:
- INF Brice Martinez R/R 5’11 170lbs Wofford College
- INF Kyle Edwards S/R 5’11 180lbs Old Dominion University
- C Kalvin Alexander R/R 6’2 215lbs Georgia Southwestern State University
- RHP Mark Perkins R/R 6’1 197lbs Rice University
- RHP Michael Eggert R/R 6’3 225lbs Wofford College
- Covington Lumberjacks:
- OF Michael Pavelchak L/L 6’0 180lbs Post University
- INF Gregory Melo R/R 6’0 206lbs Tallahassee Community College
- LHP Brian Garmon II L/R 6’2 235lbs Georgia State University
- Culpeper Cavaliers:
- OF Keith Savoy R/R 6’1 175lbs Georgetown University
- OF Jack Torosian L/R 5’11 180lbs Creighton University
- OF Kien Vu L/L 5’11 175lbs Arizona State University
- INF Connor Maryniak R/R 6’0 190lbs Misericordia College
- RHP Jarek Podest R/R 6’7 205lbs Elmira College
- Harrisonburg Turks:
- OF Aiden Alexander S/R 5’9 160lbs Oklahoma City University
- LHP Micah Morgan L/L 6’1 207lbs University of South Alabama
- RHP Casey Smith R/R 6’3 190lbs James Madison University
- LHP Garfield Johns L/L 6’2 210lbs University of South Alabama
- LHP Dominic Castellano R/L 6’0 190lbs University of Central Florida
- INF Jason Torres R/R 6’2 228lbs University of Miami
- RHP Lane Pearson R/R 6’7 230lbs Georgia Southern University
- Staunton Braves:
- INF Cooper Clapp L/R 5’10 180lbs University of Notre Dame
- C Owen Prince L/R 5’8 165lbs Virginia Military Institute
- RHP Joe Martino R/R 5’11 175lbs West Chester University
- INF Joey Parliment R/R 5’7 170lbs Trevecca Nazarene University
- RHP Evan McDade R/R 6’3 215lbs Fairmont State University
- Waynesboro Generals:
- INF Luis Ramirez R/R 5’11 200lbs Bloomfield College
- OF Shane Shelly R/R 6’2 200lbs Barry University
- INF Alexander McCoy R/R 6’6 265lbs University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- OF Jeremy Wagner R/R 6’0 185lbs Towson University
- C Parker Stroh L/R 6’1 200lbs University of Southern Indiana
- RHP Connor Hensley S/R 6’3 230lbs Seminole State College of Florida
ALTERNATES – SOUTH
- Charlottesville Tom Sox:
- LHP Ryan Lynch R/L 6’2 200lbs University of Notre Dame
- Harrisonburg Turks:
- LHP Daniel Diaz L/L 6’1 195lbs University of South Alabama
- Covington Lumberjacks:
- LHP Alexander Llinas L/L 5’11 215lbs Nicholls State University
ALTERNATES – NORTH
- Purcellville Cannons:
- RHP Jaxon Dalena L/R 6’3 210lbs Shippensburg University
- New Market Rebels:
- OF Jude Drzemiecki L/R 6’1 195lbs St. Andrews Presbyterian College