|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Virginia Generals are on a roll
The Virginia Generals have been on a roll lately. The 10U team is currently in Cooperstown, N.Y. for a major tournament, where as of Tuesday, they carried a 6-0 record. Jay Shepard, president of the Generals, said Tuesday that the team's latest win was a 35-2 victory over the Cooperstown, N.Y. All-Stars.
But the lopsided victory is highly unusual, Shepard said.
“They're so evenly matched because these are the best teams out there,” he said. “They play each other 10 times and everybody's 5-5 or 6-4.”
That isn't just at the 10U level -- it's what the Generals are used to in every age group, he said.
Take the 12U Generals. In last weekend's tournament, they lost their games by one run.
“We're playing great baseball but at the end, we're getting on the wrong side of it,” Shepard said. “About three plays out there and it's the difference in the ballgame. If you make a mistake, the other side will make you pay.”
The 11U team had a mixed tournament weekend. They beat the Potomac River Dogs 9-3 on Saturday to but the same team came back the next day to turn the tables, knocking the Generals out in the semifinals.
“We're not putting any of our teams into easy tournaments,” Shepard said. “Sometimes we've been on top, sometimes we haven't. We've just been in dogfights all spring.”
That's mostly by design, he said. The Generals are a development team -- the goal is to build players up so they can compete on varsity teams in high school. In order to do that, the managers challenge the players by sending them up against tough competitors.
“We're putting them in the biggest pond we can possibly put them in and see if they can swim,” Shepard said.
Late last month, the 11U and 12U teams managed to swim with the big fish as they battled some of the best teams in the Northeast Region at the Elite Championship Tournament Baseball Memorial Day Tournament.
Both teams finished in third.
The 11U Generals took on a field of 20 teams from all over the East Coast and made it to the semifinals.
The 11U Generals were led on the mound by Kyle Casey, Trevor Williams and closer Robbie Murphy. Casey and Williams picked up one win each and Murphy got two wins as the closer. At the plate, Casey, Ben Russo, Cole Campbell and Evan Diebus kept their bats going throughout the tourney.
They were a collective 24 for 48 (.500) and highlights included Campbell’s two triples and Russo’s walk off double in the bottom of the sixth to put them into the semifinals.
Defensively, James Price led the Generals from his shortstop position, turning five double plays.
At the same time, the 12U Generals faced down 27 teams and also finished third. After starting with a 6-5 loss, the 12U team rebounded to win the next four. That launched them into the semifinals, where they lost in a tough 5-4 match.
The Generals pitchers averaged fewer than three earned runs per game over the entire weekend while striking out 33 and walking 13.
Leading the Generals bullpen was James Beasley, who was nearly unstoppable in nine innings on the hill. Facing 39 batters, Beasley gave up one run and seven hits while striking out 10 and walking four. That earned him two wins for the Generals. Evan Richardson threw similar numbers over almost nine innings, facing 35 batters, giving up three runs and seven hits, while striking out seven and walking one to earn one win and one save.
Nick Drury and Trey Shepard did most of the rest of the work. Drury finished the weekend with seven innings pitched, five runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and three walks. Shepard threw almost seven innings, giving up three runs on two hits, striking out five and walking three.
Leading the Generals artillery at the plate were Drury and Shepard. Drury led all hitters, hitting .643 for the weekend, with seven runs, six hits, two doubles, one triple and four RBIs. Shepard also had the hot bat, hitting .467, with five hits, two triples, one sacrifice bunt and four RBIs, while scoring four runs. Tre Terry was a force at the plate and on the base paths, hitting .375 and scoring seven runs for the weekend, while leading the Generals in stolen bases with six.
Two other Generals hit over .300 for the weekend. Beasley hit .385 (two runs, five hits and two RBIs) and Landon Avila hit .357 (three runs, four hits, one double and five RBIs).
Tyler Fetherolf and Ryan Sanders shared catching duties, shutting down opposing runners and working the hitters all weekend.
Defensively, the Generals were led by Garrett Cook, Brice Reddington and Joey Ratcliff , helping their pitching staff to keep runners from scoring.
You must be logged in to post a comment.