Our last winner was Brandon Quaranta; he will face the winner from today.

Today we have Austin Embler (Harrisonburg 2018) against Zach Sterry (Waynesboro 2016).

  • Embler defeated Covington’s Mike Martinez in the opening round. His writeup: “Austin Embler finished 2018 with a .388/.479/.621 slashline. In 116 at-bats, he scored 26 runs, hit seven doubles, four triples, four home runs, drove in 23 runs, and had a solid 21/26 BB/K ratio. He finished third in the league in batting average and on-base percentage, fifth in slugging, and led the league in triples. He was ATVL’s 3rd best hitter. The Turks went 20-22, finished 4th in the South, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Embler was a three-year starter for UNC-Greensboro; he hit .320/.396/.416 in 700 total at-bats, with 36 doubles, five triples, seven home runs, and a 84/131 BB/K ratio. He was not drafted after his senior season in 2019.”
  • Zach Sterry laid waste to the Valley League in 2016 for the Waynesboro Generals. He hit .350/.453/.734 in 40 games and 143 at-bats. He added 33 runs, 41 RBIs, 50 hits, 14 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, a solid 27/33 BB/K ratio, and even stole four bases without getting caught. He led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage (by a huge amount- Nick Ward finished at .587), doubles, home runs, and RBIs. He tied for 3rd in walks, finished 4th in batting average and on-base percentage, and tied for 5th in both runs and hits. He continued hitting right through the playoffs, too. In six games and 22 at-bats, he hit .409/.500/.818, with eight runs, eight RBIs, and three home runs. He also had a double and two RBIs in the all-star game. He was ATVL’s #1 hitter, finished first team All-Valley at first base, and was league MVP. In his four years at Oakland, Sterry hit .302/.383/.487 in 653 at-bats, with 110 runs, 46 doubles, 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a 78/119 BB/K ratio. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 2017 draft, and spent two seasons in the minor leagues, hitting .265/.353/.371 in 283 total at-bats. He retired in February 2019.

Who ya got?

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!

Also, please check out and subscribe to the Valley Baseball League youtube channel– some awesome stuff is released almost every day!

Embler
Sterry