• by John Leonard

Good morning, everyone! Herewith you shall find, Brilliant Reader, the very first hitter and pitcher of the day post for 2021.

To help everyone understand how this goes, I choose the hitter with the best line, and then list everyone else who had a good night- usually, everyone who reached base at least three times. For the pitchers, I almost always go with game score (for the starters), and also list relievers who had multiple good innings.

Some days the choices are super easy, and other times there are many guys who could win. It all depends!

Here we go!

Results

  • New Market 7, Front Royal 1
  • Winchester 4, Purcellville 3
  • Charlottesville 9, Covington 5
  • Woodstock 5, Strasburg 2
  • Staunton 8, Waynesboro 7

Hitter of the Day

Our hitter of the day is Staunton’s Kent Rooklin, from West Virginia Tech! Rooklin went 4-4 last night, with two runs scored, an RBI, hit-by-pitch, and two stolen bases. Rooklin also played for Staunton in 2019, and hit .280/.380/.317 in 164 at-bats, with four doubles, a triple, 25/26 BB/K ratio, and eight stolen bases. This spring for WVT, he hit .269/.322/.351 in 134 at-bats, with six doubles, a triple, a home run, and 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts.

Other Hitters of Note

  • Evan Keller, New Market: 0-2, two runs, three walks, stolen base
  • Paul Winland, New Market: 2-4, two runs, two RBIs, walk
  • Pierce Bennett, Charlottesville: 2-2, two runs, three walks, stolen base
  • Matt Corpas, Charlottesville: 2-4, run, RBI, walk
  • Carson Ford, Woodstock: 2-3, two runs, walk, two doubles, hit-by-pitch
  • Marco Martinez, Woodstock: 0-1, run, three walks
  • Alejandro Figueredo, Waynesboro: 3-5, two runs
  • Max Weller, Waynesboro: 2-4, run, RBI, walk
  • Cole Ragone, Staunton: 2-4, run, two RBIs, walk, double, triple, stolen base
  • Bren Taylor, Staunton: 3-4, run, RBI, two stolen bases

Pitcher of the Day

In a pretty strong night for pitchers, one stood out- New Market’s Marcelo Saldana, from Fresno CC. Saldana threw six shutout innings while allowing one hit, three walks, and striking out six. He earned the win and a game score of 73- far and away the best of the night. Saldana struck out 33 batters in 32 1/3 innings this spring at school.

Other Pitchers of Note

  • Tanner Bauman, Winchester: five innings, four hits, two earned runs, two walks, nine K’s (58 game score)
  • Michael Darrell-Hicks, Winchester: three no-hit, shutout innings, no walks, six K’s, win
  • John Lumpinski, Purcellville: 4 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs, one earned, one walk, eight K’s (58 game score)
  • Christian Williams, Charlottesville: two shutout, no-hit innings, one walk, one K, win
  • Brandon Haggerty, Woodstock: 5 innings, six hits, two earned runs, no walks, seven K’s, win, game score of 54
  • Jake Rons, Woodstock: two shutout, no-hit innings, no walks, four K’s
  • Geo Rivera, Strasburg: 2 2/3 innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, four K’s
  • Jonathan Sawyers, Staunton: three innings, two hits, one unearned run, no walks, three K’s

Tonight’s Games

All doubleheaders! (I’ll be attending the NM-Harrisonburg DH)

  • Strasburg at Waynesboro, 5 PM, 7:30 PM
  • Charlottesville at Woodstock, 5 PM, 7:30 PM
  • Staunton at Front Royal, 5 PM, 7:30 PM
  • New Market at Harrisonburg, 5:30 PM, 8 PM
  • Purcellville at Covington, 5:30 PM, 8 PM
  • Rooklin
  • Saldana