Well, hello there, Brilliant Reader! While I am furiously working on the twenty best hitters in the 2019 Valley League season, I am also mixing in entires on my Valley League record book.

A couple things before we start, though. 1) The record book is only from 2004 to 2019. Statistics from 2003 and earlier are spotty at best, and I can only verify stats beginning in ’04. 2) The statistics are from the regular season and the playoffs combined. Thomas Francisco, for example, hit .412 in the regular season, but his entry below shows .409. That’s because Francisco hit “only” .400 in the playoffs, and his average came down a little bit. 3) Some of the stat categories will have close to 20 entries, while others may have as little as 10. I’m working on explanding the lists to 20 each, but current players have to get on there to make the list larger.

Got it? Let’s start with batting average:

1 Michael Wielansky Charlottesville 2017 0.428
2 Brad Zebedis Strasburg 2011 0.420
3 Julian Ridings Waynesboro 2012 0.419
4 Luke Greinke Winchester 2007 0.417
5 Gunnar McNeill Staunton 2014 0.414
6 Logan Amiss Covington 2019 0.410
Caleb Ward Woodstock 2019 0.410
8 Thomas Francisco Charlottesville 2019 0.409
9 Shane Billings Harrisonburg 2015 0.406
Andrew Eyster New Market 2018 0.406
Aidan Nagle Woodstock 2019 0.406
12 Jordan Tarsovich Strasburg 2013 0.405
13 Dominic Canzone Front Royal 2017 0.404
14 Cory Spangenberg Winchester 2010 0.399
15 Joe Kemp Harrisonburg 2004 0.396
Blake Sipe Staunton 2012 0.396
17 Chase Cheek Waynesboro 2018 0.394
18 Max Wood Staunton 2017 0.389
19 Mike Garza Woodstock 2010 0.388

We’ve added Logan Amiss, Caleb Ward, Thomas Francisco, and Aidan Nagle this year- all of whom ended with averages north of .400 (which brings the total number of .400 hitters to 13 in the last 16 years).

Out of the 19 entries, Staunton and Woodstock have three each, while Charlottesville, Strasburg, Waynesboro, Winchester, and Harrisonburg all have two, and Covington, New Market, and Front Royal all have one. Purcellville/Charles Town doesn’t have one (yet).

Lou Meadows holds the all-time record with a .466 average in 1981 for Staunton (thanks to Chaz Weaver for that info).

Played in the Major Leagues: Cory Spangenberg
Currently Playing in Minors: Spangenberg, Michael Wielansky, Dominic Canzone
Previously Played in Minor Leagues: Julian Ridings, Luke Greinke, Shane Billings, Jordan Tarsovich, Joe Kemp, Mike Garza
No Organized Ball: Brad Zebedis, Gunnar McNeill, Blake Sipe, Max Wood
Still in College: Logan Amiss, Caleb Ward, Thomas Francisco, Aidan Nagle, Andrew Eyster, Chase Cheek

The plan from here is to alternate top hitters with league record book posts- so the #20 hitter should be posted tomorrow!

Francisco
Cheek
Eyster
Wielansky