Exciting VBL action on a Saturday Nite!
Fauquier and Harrisonburg pushed their contest back to Monday but the remainder of the schedule went on as planned. The weather was hit and miss all over the Valley but here in Luray we only felt a few drops. Haymarket made the trip down I-66 and US-340 for the rematch with the Wranglers. When the teams met up in Haymarket earlier in the season the Senators put 10
runs on the score board and coasted to a 10-1 victory.
Luray was ready for the rematch Saturday night and the Wranglers returned the favor by scoring 10 runs of their own in their 10-2 win. The game was a pitching duel until pushed across 7 UN-earned runs in the bottom of the 8TH inning to remove any doubt of the outcome.
Waynesboro made the trip up I-81 to play at Rebel Park and the Generals also broke open a close game to pull away for a 5-1 victory. The game was tied 1-1 for a good portion of the night but Waynesboro came on late for the victory.
I believe I heard the final of the Winchester- Front Royal clash as 5-3 but I need to research which team won the game while Staunton made THE DRIVE down to Covington. The suddenly red hot Woodstock River Bandits took the night off.
Some pretty cool things happened at Bulldog Field before and during the Wranglers- Sens game. The first came during batting practice when Jeremy Cruz (Stetson) ripped a home run of the score board. The running joke was he hit it so hard that it probably won't work for the game- the laugh was on us when we headed to the press box and you guessed it- No lights on the score board. I am not sure who gets credit for fixing the board but it was back working before the nights first pitch.
The second cool thing happened when Seth (President of the Press Box) McGruffin was able to help out Haymarket Joe with some sound effects to take back to Battlefield High School. Joe is great to visit with and I wish every team in the VBL had a few of him running around. I offered for Joe to stay upstairs and take the honors of reading the Senators starting line up. The energy and passion this man shows for the Sens, baseball and the VBL is contagious.
Ryan Carroll and Seth were both impressed by his effort as was Joni Turner. I am not sure past that but I know my mission is to promote this league and I thought the cross over was a great touch.
The second great touch goes to Mr. Dow McGrady III. Even though Dow and I have never been formally introduced, we have belted out old 70's rock songs together upstairs. I have always searched for ideas that can help the VBL shine and Dow hit a Home Run with his latest idea. Dow gave Seth the Wrangler e-mail to read over the web cast and he was sitting at the computer to relay the messages back to Ryan. The amount of family and friends that chimed in from all over the country (and from both teams) was amazing. Ryan was able to pass on all of
the notes from back home and keep in the flow of the game. I don't know how often you could do it but the immediate results were heart worming and positive. The very idea of this site is to do just that, give people a way to let people back home feel connected. ATV-60 Kudos go out to Dow!
The third treat was looking down from the Press Box and seeing Mr.John Leonard sitting down below. John and a friend made the trip over from Harrisonburg to catch the game and I am already looking forward to his recap to come later. Any night with a few minutes spent with John is a good night. The Haymarket ownership group was in the park and were as pleasent to see as they have been every night I have had the privileged of running into them.
The photos will come up later and I will let Mike or Melissa fill you in on the action over in New Market. Please check out John and his thoughts over at All Things Valley League about the game in Luray. For me, it is time to go deal with 1,000 copies of the Sunday Washington Post. I will check back in when I can call it a morning.
runs on the score board and coasted to a 10-1 victory.
Luray was ready for the rematch Saturday night and the Wranglers returned the favor by scoring 10 runs of their own in their 10-2 win. The game was a pitching duel until pushed across 7 UN-earned runs in the bottom of the 8TH inning to remove any doubt of the outcome.
Waynesboro made the trip up I-81 to play at Rebel Park and the Generals also broke open a close game to pull away for a 5-1 victory. The game was tied 1-1 for a good portion of the night but Waynesboro came on late for the victory.
I believe I heard the final of the Winchester- Front Royal clash as 5-3 but I need to research which team won the game while Staunton made THE DRIVE down to Covington. The suddenly red hot Woodstock River Bandits took the night off.
Some pretty cool things happened at Bulldog Field before and during the Wranglers- Sens game. The first came during batting practice when Jeremy Cruz (Stetson) ripped a home run of the score board. The running joke was he hit it so hard that it probably won't work for the game- the laugh was on us when we headed to the press box and you guessed it- No lights on the score board. I am not sure who gets credit for fixing the board but it was back working before the nights first pitch.
The second cool thing happened when Seth (President of the Press Box) McGruffin was able to help out Haymarket Joe with some sound effects to take back to Battlefield High School. Joe is great to visit with and I wish every team in the VBL had a few of him running around. I offered for Joe to stay upstairs and take the honors of reading the Senators starting line up. The energy and passion this man shows for the Sens, baseball and the VBL is contagious.
Ryan Carroll and Seth were both impressed by his effort as was Joni Turner. I am not sure past that but I know my mission is to promote this league and I thought the cross over was a great touch.
The second great touch goes to Mr. Dow McGrady III. Even though Dow and I have never been formally introduced, we have belted out old 70's rock songs together upstairs. I have always searched for ideas that can help the VBL shine and Dow hit a Home Run with his latest idea. Dow gave Seth the Wrangler e-mail to read over the web cast and he was sitting at the computer to relay the messages back to Ryan. The amount of family and friends that chimed in from all over the country (and from both teams) was amazing. Ryan was able to pass on all of
the notes from back home and keep in the flow of the game. I don't know how often you could do it but the immediate results were heart worming and positive. The very idea of this site is to do just that, give people a way to let people back home feel connected. ATV-60 Kudos go out to Dow!
The third treat was looking down from the Press Box and seeing Mr.John Leonard sitting down below. John and a friend made the trip over from Harrisonburg to catch the game and I am already looking forward to his recap to come later. Any night with a few minutes spent with John is a good night. The Haymarket ownership group was in the park and were as pleasent to see as they have been every night I have had the privileged of running into them.
The photos will come up later and I will let Mike or Melissa fill you in on the action over in New Market. Please check out John and his thoughts over at All Things Valley League about the game in Luray. For me, it is time to go deal with 1,000 copies of the Sunday Washington Post. I will check back in when I can call it a morning.
