What is the deal with all the rain? If I remember correctly, June tends to be the rainy month in the Valley, but then July is fairly dry. This season has been crazy! Two more rainouts last night, and we only have four days left in the regular season. It will be interesting to see what the league does…

Scores

  • Harrisonburg 7, New Market 2 (7 innings)
  • Harrisonburg 7, New Market 3 (7 innings): The Turks, with the doubleheader sweep, have a firm grip on first place- they have a 2 game lead with only 4 to play. The Rebels’ playoff chances were obviously hurt by the two losses. The Rebs are now 1.5 games behind the 8th place Aldie Senators, with 4 games to play.
  • Aldie 5, Charles Town 2: Big, big win for the Senators! They moved closer to clinching a playoff spot, as they are now 1.5 games ahead of the Rebels, and 2.5 ahead of Winchester and Woodstock with only 3 games left to play.
  • Front Royal 8, Winchester 7: The Cardinals stunned the Royals with a 3-run 9th, thanks to a bases-loaded double by Hunter Newman (who has quite a flair for the dramatic) and Spencer Wolfe groundout. The Cards are now alone in 2nd place, 2 games behind the Turks, and 0.5 ahead of the Staunton Braves. Winchester is now on the cusp of elimination from the playoffs- 2.5 games behind the 8th place Senators.
  • Woodstock vs Covington, Waynesboro vs Staunton cancelled

Hitter of the Day

Mitchell Matulia Harrisonburg Turks 2014Out hitter of the day is Harrisonburg’s Mitchell Matulia, from Texas-San Antonio. Mitchell had a very good game in game 2 of the doubleheader last night, going 3-4, with a  run, 2 RBIs, and 2 doubles. He’s been swinging a hot bat lately, as he has 8 hits in his last 18 at-bats, along with 4 doubles and 8 RBIs. For the summer, he’s hitting 254/302/407 in 59 at-bats.

Others of  Note

Justin Harris, Charles Town: 2-3, BB, 2B, 4 SB
Nick Sinay, Front Royal: 0-1, 3 BB, 3 runs, 3 SB
Shell McCain, Front Royal: 1-3, 2 runs, RBI, 2 BB
Mike Elwood, Front Royal: 2-4, run, RBI, BB, HR
Hunter Newman, Front Royal: 1-5, 3 RBIs, 2B
Jerry Downs, Winchester: 1-2, run, 3 BB
Corey Chafin, Winchester: 3-4, RBI, 2B
Thomas Smith, Harrisonburg: 1-3, run, 3 RBIs, HR (game 2)
Darian Carpenter, New Market: 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, 2B, SB (game 2)

Pitcher of the Day

Turk sweep! The POD is Eric Kalbfleisch, from UNC-Greensboro, who threw 6 innings in relief against New Market in game 1, allowing

Kalbfleisch from 2013
Kalbfleisch from 2013

only 2 hits, 2 runs (both unearned), while walking 3 and striking out 2 to earn the win. Eric’s pitched in 4 games this summer, going 1-0, 0.00, with 6 hits, 7 walks, and 5 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched. He plays every day otherwise, and is hitting 297/357/426 in 40 games and 148 at-bats.

Others of Note

Junior Delatorre, Aldie: 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 BB, 3 K’s, win
Jean Acevedo, Charles Town: 8 IP, 8 hits, 3 runs, 0 BB, 3 K’s, loss
Reece Karalus, Aldie: 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 BB, 3 K’s, save

Schedule for Tonight

Charles Town (Jack Charleston) at Strasburg (Nick Gollin)

Woodstock at Front Royal

Staunton (Cody Beck) at Covington

New Market (Garrett Kelly) at Harrisonburg (Tanner Shelton)

Winchester (Lucas Mould) at Aldie (Taylor Durand)