Saturday’s winner is Jordan Tarsovich; he will face Brad Zebedis in the next round (uh-oh).

Today we have the 2019 Valley League MVP, Aidan Nagle (Woodstock), squaring off against Harrisonburg’s Thomas Smith (2013).

  • Aidan Nagle came to Woodstock last summer from Cuesta College, on his way to his junior year at Lewis-Clark. His summer was dynamite; he hit .406/.492/.675 in 160 regular-season at-bats, with 47 runs scored, 10 doubles, 11 home runs, 33 RBIs, a 23/26 BB/K ratio, and nine stolen bases (without being caught). In five playoff games, Nagle scored nine more runs, and added five extra base hits, including three home runs. He finished first in the league in OPS, slugging percentage, total bases (with 108), home runs, hits, and runs. He finished third in batting average, on-base percentage, and RBIs. He was an All-Star, a Prospect Showcase participant, first team All-Valley in the outfield, and Perfect Game’s third best prospect. In his abbreviated junior season just this spring for Lewis-Clark, Nagle hit .253/.333/.342 in 79 at-bats with two home runs.
  • Thomas Smith defeated Blake Sipe to get here. His writeup: “Orginially a walk-on, Smith was a four-year starter at Georgia Tech (2012-2015). In 2013 for the Turks, he hit a robust .341/.428/.492 in 132 at-bats, with 23 runs scored, 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 23 RBIs, four stolen bases, and an excellent 22/15 BB/K ratio. He was ATVL’s 2nd best hitter that summer (behind Jordan Tarsovich). The Turks went 32-12 that summer, won the South, but lost in the first round of the playoffs. In his four years for the Yellow Jackets, Smith hit .287/.387/.364 in 662 at-bats, with a 88/86 BB/K ratio. Alas, he was not drafted after his senior year.”

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL.

And by the way, if you want to read a ton about either the 2015 or 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out this post on the 2019 Valley League Annual!

Nagle
Smith