League Record Book: Batting Average

One of the offseason series I work through is the Valley League record book, updated with the recently completed season. It’s a fun, easy way to see who some of the standouts were in 2021, and compare them to the last quarter century of history.

So we will begin with the most visible category: batting average. There are two new entries on this one- and by the way, I’ve decided that because these lists hold so much Valley League history, I will not remove players from the bottom; therefore, the lists will expand over time.

Batting Average	(1994-2021)
1	Michael Wielansky	Charlottesville	2017	0.428
2	Brad Zebedis	Strasburg	2011	0.420
3	Julian Ridings	Waynesboro	2012	0.419
	Nate Furman	Winchester	2021	0.419
5	Luke Greinke	Winchester	2007	0.417
6	Gunnar McNeill	Staunton	2014	0.414
7	Logan Amiss	Covington	2019	0.410
	Caleb Ward	Woodstock	2019	0.410
9	Thomas Francisco	Charlottesville	2019	0.409
10	Shane Billings	Harrisonburg	2015	0.406
	Andrew Eyster	New Market	2018	0.406
	Aidan Nagle	Woodstock	2019	0.406
13	Jordan Tarsovich	Strasburg	2013	0.405
14	Dominic Canzone	Front Royal	2017	0.404
15	Cory Spangenberg	Winchester	2010	0.399
	Ryan Galanie	Strasburg	2021	0.399
17	Joe Kemp	Harrisonburg	2004	0.396
	Blake Sipe	Staunton	2012	0.396
19	Chase Cheek	Waynesboro	2018	0.394
20	Jeff Van Houten	Harrisonburg	2003	0.391
21	Max Wood	Staunton	2017	0.389
22	Nate Rewers	Front Royal	1998	0.388
	Mike Garza	Woodstock	2010	0.388

Notes

• These numbers come from the regular season and the playoffs combined. They do not include the All-Star game (Furman and Galanie both had good games) or, I regret to say, forfeited games. Ugh.
• So we have two 2021 players join this list- Furman tied for third and Galanie tied for 15th.
• Strasburg, Winchester, Staunton, Woodstock, and Harrisonburg all have three on the list; Charlottesville, Waynesboro, and Front Royal have two; Covington and New Market have one. Purcellville hasn’t had one get there yet.
• There is one major leaguer listed here- Cory Spangenberg. Many of these guys have played in the minors, though: Wielansky, Ridings, Greinke, Francisco (just drafted), Billings, Tarsovich, Canzone, Kemp, Van Houten, and Garza.
• Next up is on-base percentage!

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