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Senators head into all-star break with shot at playoffs
The Haymarket Senators finally have some good news just before Sunday’s all-star game in Covington.
As of Wednesday morning, not only did the Senators (9-15) no longer have the worst record in the North Division of the Valley Baseball League, but they were also actually tied for eighth place overall with Harrisonburg.
If Haymarket manages to finish the season in eighth place out of 11 teams, then the Senators would clinch a playoff berth.
Haymarket put together a three-game winning streak June 25-27 against Fauquier, Front Royal and Winchester to pull back into contention after having dropped 10 out of 12 straight games.
For whatever reason, the Senators have actually played some of their best baseball all season against the Fauquier Gators (15-8), a team in close contention for first place in the North Division with Luray (17-8).
Tim Knowlton collected a win opening day at Fauquier, striking out six batters without giving up any earned runs in a 6.1 inning outing.
Right-fielder Ben Wendle and first-baseman Tripp Swann smacked back-to-back doubles in the second and Haymarket took advantage of two errors in the fifth inning while the defense managed to hang tough.
Fauquier reversed its fortune on the road in Haymarket June 12 with a 4-2 win, though Haymarket native David Herbek, who joined the Senators six days earlier, managed to score in the fourth inning.
Herbek, a 2007 graduate of Battlefield High School, has earned a team-best .355 batting average in his 18 games with the local club, scoring 13 runs while collecting six RBIs.
The rising sophomore at James Madison University was sixth in the league in hitting on Tuesday, only .010 points behind third-place Drew Johnson of Harrisonburg, and fifth in the league in on-base percentage (.437).
Swann, meanwhile, has been the power at the plate for Haymarket with three home runs and 12 RBIs. Swann has shown patience at the plate, as well, by gathering a team-high 14 walks.
His .296 average and .419 on-base percentage put him just behind Herbek in each category on the team.
Knowlton (2-3, 4.26 ERA), Dean Wolosiansky (1-2, 2.59) and Weston Szymanski (2-1, 3.66) have been the collective backbone of the Haymarket pitching rotation.
While the three have posted a combined 5-6 record, the bullpen has struggled with ERAs above 5.40 among those who have pitched at least two games.
To put that in prospective, one game under .500 is actually decent in the VBL as 12-13 Staunton controls sixth place in the playoff race.
Haymarket returns home next Wednesday, June 9, to face first-place Waynesboro (17-8) at Battlefield High School. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
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