Here’s our matchup for Wednesday:

  • Brock Hunter defeated Eli Ellington in the first round, 64% to 36% (50 votes). His writeup: “Brock Hunter came to Strasburg after his junior season at Coastal Carolina, where he had gone 4-0, 2.27 in 27 games… interestingly all in relief. He pitched in eight games that summer- seven of them starts. He went 2-1, 2.18, with only 11 walks and 47 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings pitched. He was ATVL’s 3rd best starter. Unfortunately, he underwent surgery in September of ’15, and did not pitch that spring at Carolina. He transferred to George Mason for 2017, where he went 1-4, 5.63 in 46 1/3 innings pitched, along with a 1.73 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9, and 6.8 K/9. He did not continue on to pro ball after his college career.”
  • Steven Ridings came to Charles Town from D-III Messiah in 2015. Ridings was superb for the Cannons, going 3-1, 2.17, with 46 hits, 7 walks, and 60 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. The 6-foot-3 righthander had a 1.16 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, and 11.8 K/9 while leading the league in strikeouts. Steven’s best start was on July 13th at Front Royal, when he threw 8 innings and allowed only 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, and struck out a whopping 15 batters. In fact, Steven struck out double digits in four out of his seven starts. For Messiah in 2016, Steven went 7-4, 1.72, with a 1.03 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, and 10.7 K/9 in 83 2/3 innings pitched. On the strength of that year, Ridings was picked by the Seattle Mariners in the 29th round of the 2016 draft. After pitching for an incredible five different minor league teams in 2017, Steven was released by the Mariners. He spent 2018 and 2019 in the Independent Frontier League.

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.

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