All Things Valley League

Minor League Top Performers for Tuesday, April 29

Five players today:

Wally Crancer (Covington 04) appears for the first time on this update, as he went 4-5 with a triple, run, and RBI.  He's now hitting 364/432/545 in 10 games so far this season for Low-A Delmarva.

Ben Harrison (Harrisonburg 01) is red-hot!  He went 4-5, with 2 doubles, 1 walk, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs in Double-A Frisco's 11-9 win at San Antonio. Ben has 7 hits in his last 9 at-bats, raising his overall line to 407/433/704 in his first 7 games of the season. As a side note, Ben batted in an interesting spot- leadoff!

Joe Koshansky (Staunton 02-03) ripped his 5th home run of the year for Triple-A Colorado Springs. He's making a strong case for the majors, as he's hitting 306/416/612 in 24 games.

Michael Mitchell (Staunton 06, and pictured above) is as hot as Ben Harrison: he went 4-6, with 3 runs, a double, home run, and 2 RBIs. He's 20-37 in his last 10 games.

What would an update be without Tommy Manzella (Waynesboro 03)?  Tommy ripped an RBI single in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 18 games!

Blakney Throws Shutout

Montevallo's senior righthander Zac Blakney (Fauquier 07) threw a complete game shutout against Oakland City on Sunday, helping the Falcons complete a doubleheader sweep. Zac had one of his best starts of the year, giving up only 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 11.

Zac is now 8-2, 3.47, with a 1.39 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9, and 10.0 K/9 in 72 2/3 innings. He leads the Falcons in wins, strikeouts, innings, complete games, and shutouts. He also has the lowest ERA among pitchers with at least one inning per game. Keep up the good work, Zac!

Minor League Top Performers for Monday, April 28

I must admit that checking the writeups on minorleaguebaseball.com each morning is like Forrest Gump and his wish for peanut clusters; I never know what I'm gonna get.  This morning, for example, I discovered a total of 8 former Valley League players who had good games the night before. (And then I got to work with a vengeance- I'm finishing two units at school, which means I'm starting two, which means I'm more busy than usual...)

Anyway, it's still fun to think about baseball every once in a while, between thinking about Huck Finn's disdain for romanticism and Romeo and Juliet's incredibly stupid decisions....

Jack Egbert (Winchester 03, and pictured above), making his first start at Triple-A Charlotte, threw very well against Norfolk, allowing 6 hits and 1 walk in 5 innings, while striking out 4. He didn't receive a decision, because his first reliever, Rob Bell, got drummed to the tune of 7 earned runs in 1 inning. Egbert is working his way back to prospect status after an injury this spring. Looks like he's close...

Cliff Pennington (Harrisonburg 03) had his second excellent game in a row, as he went 3-4, with 4 runs, 1 RBI, and 1 walk in Double-A Midland's 12-3 pasting of San Antonio. Pennington's stats are looking better and better...

Ben Harrison (Harrisonburg 01) blitzed Corpus Christi, going 3-4 with a home run, RBI, walk, and 2 runs scored. He's raised his stats all the way to 318/333/591 in 22 at-bats. He's now played in 3 straight games after sitting out 6 straight...

Brad Mills (Harrisonburg 05) had his second best start of his season, striking out 11 Quad Cities batters in 4 2/3 innings. He gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs (both earned).

Corey Coles (Covington 02, pictured below) went 2-3 with a double. He's now hitting 333/440/381 in 21 Triple-A at-bats.

Matt Camp (Covington 03) went 3-4 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a walk against West Tenn.

John Raynor (New Market 04) went 2-4 in Carolina's 1-0 loss to Chattanooga.

Last but not least, Tommy Manzella (Waynesboro 03) went 2-5 with 2 runs and a double, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

Front Royal Roster Available!

The Front Royal Cardinals have posted their roster for the upcoming season!  (This leaves just Luray...)

The Cards have some excellent players returning:

• Bennett Davis, from Elon: hit 280/377/411 with 14 doubles and 14 stolen bases in 175 at-bats (3B)

• Drew McCormick, from Shepherd: hit 170/261/230 in 135 at-bats (INF)

• Bradley Ray, from Auburn: hit 245/331/382 in 110 at-bats (OF)

• Kevin Crimmel, from Villanova: went 2-1, 3.07, with 31 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings

• Thomas Gray, from Tennessee Tech: went 5-3, 4.60 in 8 starts

• Matt McCarty, from Shepherd: went 3-3, 3.23, with 49 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings and 8 starts

• Jesse Henry, from Shenandoah: went 1-9 in limited action (INF)

And, last but not least, the Cards have picked up another player who played for New Market last year:  Parker Neal, from Christopher Newport. Parker hit 138/219/172 in very limited action for the Rebels. (He's hitting 330/395/425 in 31 games in college this spring. He's going to be an excellent addition!)

FR was an exciting team to watch last year; I would anticipate that this year will be similar!

Minor League Top Performers for Sunday, April 27

Only three players make Sunday's honor roll:

Cliff Pennington (Harrisonburg 03) went 2-5 with a run and 2 RBIs in Midland's 11-5 loss against San Antonio. Cliff is hitting 255/376/296 in 23 games.

Tommy Manzella (Waynesboro 03, and pictured left) went 2-5 with a run and 2 RBIs (yeah, just like Pennington!), extending his hitting streak to 16 games!

Bobby Spain (Harrisonburg 06-07) went 1-3, with a run, RBI, double, and walk in Hickory's 10-4 loss to Greenville. Bobby has 9 hits in his last 20 at-bats; he's starting to hit!

Guez Streak Snapped

Figures I happen on something just as it's ending.

Ben Guez (Covington 06), last seen in these pages here, had a huge 32-game hitting streak snapped by Towson on Friday, April 25. A junior at William & Mary, Ben is hitting 383/488/611 in 43 games and 167 at-bats thus far this year for the 30-13 Tribe. We'll see how the draft turns out for Ben!
To see a short article on Ben and the Tribe, click here.

Minor League Top Performers for Saturday, April 26

All this excellent baseball being played- and I haven't seen a game since a JMU contest a few weeks ago!  I need to get back out there.

Anyway, another good night for Valley Leaguers  in the minors:

Tommy Manzella (Waynesboro 03) singled in the 6th inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games! Interesting: he's batting 2nd in the Corpus Christi lineup.

Nick Stavinoha (Front Royal 03) got two more hits last night for Triple-A Memphis against Iowa. He's now hitting 372/398/500 through 22 games, including 10 hits in his last 15 at-bats. Call him up, already! Unfortunately (for Nick, of course), all the Cardinals' outfielders, with the exception of Rick Ankiel, are hitting very well so far this season.

Ben Harrison (Harrisonburg 01), trying to make it back to "prospect" status after a rash of injuries, hit a go-ahead 2-run home run in the 7th inning against Corpus Christi, leading Double-A Frisco to a 3-2 victory. Harrison is hitting 214/200/429 in only 14 at-bats.

Matt Camp (Covington 03) went 2-4 with a double for Double-A Tennessee against West Tenn. Camp is hitting 236/329/250 in 22 games thus far.

Gaby Sanchez (Staunton 03) went 1-3, with a home run, run, walk, and 2 RBIs for Double-A Carolina in a 5-4 loss to Chattanooga.

A pitcher! Stephen Faris (New Market 04, and pictured) pitched very well for Double-A San Antonio against Midland, throwing 5 shutout innings, and allowing only 3 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 7.  After three starts this year, Faris is 1-0, 1.50, with a 0.92 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, and 9.0 K/9 in 12 innings.

Hernandez Throws Shutout

Bobby Hernandez, last seen in the Valley as a Staunton Brave in 2007, threw a complete game shutout on Friday against Nova Southeastern. Hernandez gave up 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 against the 27-19 Nova. (The performance earned a game score of 77!)

A draft-eligible junior, Bobby is throwing exceedingly well this year. He's now 6-0, 1.62, with a 1.11 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, and 9.3 K/9 in 44 1/3 innings. I'd say that's throwing pretty well!

Minor League Top Performers for Friday, April 25

For some reason, when I started looking for former Valley Leaguers who played well in their minor league games Friday night, I was anticipating very few. Turns out that I was very wrong, as six players performed well!

Here they are:

Greg Sexton (New Market 04), for Low-A Columbus in the Tampa Bay Rays system, went 3-4, with 1 run, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, and 2 doubles in a 6-3 win over Charleston. Greg is now hitting 274/354/384 in 19 games.

Matt Oxendine (Front Royal 03) continued his hot hitting, going 3-4, with a walk, a run, and 2 doubles for Low-A South Bend in the Midwest League. Matt is really hammering the ball so far, hitting 341/453/477 in 13 games.

Gaby Sanchez (Staunton 03, and pictured above) is also hitting well, as he went 3-4 with a double and 3 RBIs for Double-A Carolina against Chattanooga. Sanchez is now hitting 338/429/493 in 21 games.

Tommy Manzella (Waynesboro 03) extended his hitting streak to 14 games as he went 2-5, with a triple, walk, 2 runs, and an RBI. Tommy is controlling the strike zone fairly well (7 walks vs. 12 strikeouts), and even hitting for some power for Double-A Corpus Christi. Now that Miguel Tejada suddenly aged two years, does this speed up Manzella's arrival time?  Ok, probably not, but the former Tulane Green Wave and Waynesboro General is doing all he can to create a bit of attention!

Bobby Spain (Harrisonburg 06-07, and pictured right) is also starting to come around (seems like all these guys are on hot streaks!), as he went 3-3 with a run, double, home run, and 4 RBIs for Low-A Hickory against Augusta. Two sets of numbers: on the year, Spain is hitting 264/298/377; in the last 4 games, he's 7 for 14 with a home run and 6 RBIs.  (I wonder if Bobby remembers that I'm supposed to get his next broken bat?  Hah!)

Nick Stavinoha (Front Royal 03) went 2-2 with a run and a double last night in Triple-A Memphis' blowout loss to Iowa. Nick is 8 for his last 11!

(Both photos are from minorleaguebaseball.com)

Swartz Sets School Double Record

While this next update covers a player who has not played in the Valley League, he is still of local interest...

Harrisonburg native and 2003 Eastern Mennonite High School graduate Ian Swartz set the single season Goshen College record for doubles when he rapped his 17th of the year on Tuesday. (He has since hit #18.)

While Goshen has slipped to 12-37 on the season, Swartz has had a senior year to remember at the plate. He's currently hitting 340/448/532, and he leads the Maple Leafs with 141 at-bats, 38 runs, 48 hits, 18 doubles, and 75 total bases. He's also second on the team with 21 walks (against only 14 strikeouts), 9 hit-by-pitches, and 17 stolen bases.

Congratulations on the great year, Ian!