Now that all teams have played a quarter of the Valley League schedule, it’s time for the yearly feature of power rankings!
This is just one guy’s attempt to rank the teams in the Valley, using record, runs scored and allowed, and team batting and pitching stats. On one level, this is ridiculous given the short season, but on the other hand, it’s fun. So don’t read too much into this: Covington won the league title in 2011 after going 21-23 in the regular season. All teams have to do is make the playoffs, and anything can happen!
The Contenders
1. Staunton: 10-2, 91 runs scored, 51 allowed, 295/389/356 hitting as a team, 2.55 team ERA. The best hitting rate stats in the league, and rightfully have the most runs scored. The team has three players with a batting average over .400: Jack Schaaf, Austin Edens, and Brad Jarreau.
2. Front Royal: 9-4, 84-48, 276/368/359, 3.03 ERA. A pretty solid #2. The Cards have allowed the fewest runs so far. Edgar Lebron leads the offense with a .396 average; the team’s pitching staff has struck out 123 batters in 116 total innings.
3. Strasburg: 8-3, 84-62, 282/371/411, 4.18 ERA. The highest slugging percentage in the league. Ryan Flick has 16 RBIs in 11 games, along with 3 home runs.
4. Harrisonburg: 7-5, 66-49, 274/341/393, 2.33 ERA. The Turks are built on pitching; they have the best ERA in the league. However, the fielding has contributed to 21 unearned runs so far.
In the Middle
5. New Market: 6-7, 67-56, 250/347/333, 3.18 ERA. The Rebs are led at the plate by Storm Edwards, who has a .450 batting average in 40 at-bats. This is a solid team; watch for an increase for the next rankings.
6. Waynesboro: 6-6, 56-57, 244/343/310, 3.36 ERA. Clayton and Jeremy Taylor lead the offfense.
7. Winchester: 7-6, 69-90, 292/359/402, 6.11 ERA. Worst ERA in the league, by a pretty wide margin. The hitting is solid, though, led by Zac Carter. If the pitching settles down, this will be a very dangerous team.
8. Charlottesville: 4-9, 59-72, 239/340/307, 4.29 ERA. The Tom Sox are led on the mound by Joshua Sharik, and at the plate by Seth Lancaster. The first year learning curve is traditionally pretty steep.
The Bottom Tier (You could make the case for the final four to be in any order, really)
9. Woodstock: 3-10, 67-84, 250/336/337, 4.94 ERA. Only -17 run differential but 7 games under .500. Christopher Wood has 18 strikeouts in only 8 innings.
10. Covington: 5-7, 55-87, 262/338/356, 5.17 ERA. The ‘Jacks have given up the most runs of any teams that have played 12 games. Jose Carrera leads the solid offense- he’s hitting .438 in 48 at-bats.
11. Aldie: 5-7, 61-81, 223/320/291, 4.75 ERA. The Sens have the lowest hitting rate stats in the league. Garret Vrbanic is doing his part, though (he’s hitting .476), and James Pike has 12 stolen bases.
12. Charles Town: 4-8, 51-73, 233/332/314, 4.25 ERA. Stephen Solomon has given up 0 earned runs in 13 innings pitched; the staff has 100 K’s in 106 innings.
The next power ranking will be after the next ten games or so!
All Things Valley League 