All Things Valley League

Tournament Update, Monday

Just two teams with former Valley Leaguers left in the NAIA World Series- Embry-Riddle and Oklahoma City. Both are still alive, albeit barely...

• Embry-Riddle defeated Belhaven this morning, 8-4. Steve Sabins went 2-5 with a run, and Phil Reamy did not pitch. Tomorrow, Riddle will face the loser of Lewis-Clark and Lee, still to be played tonight. (That is, unless the tournament committee rearranges things, which they can.)

• Oklahoma City lost to Cumberland, 8-1. Brad Riddle threw 2 1/3 innings, and allowed 2 earned runs. OKC will play Point Loma Nazarene tomorrow afternoon.

D-I tourney starting later this week... and, of course, so is the Valley League season!

Tournament Update- Sunday

Just one game today, and it's a doozy:

Division III

• Only one team with former Valley Leaguers remained in the D-III tournament- Johns Hopkins. Well, SUNY-Cortland took care of that, blasting Hopkins, 23-8, in the loser's bracket. (Ryan Kahn did not pitch.) So, just like D-II, it looks like no former Valley League player will win a championship in D-III this year.

NAIA Series resumes tomorrow! (And, of course, the Division I tournament will start soon. Watch out for Coastal Carolina!)

Masters Continues to Throw Well

ATVL tends to have a bit of a blind spot about pro players- it's almost as if players disappear when they start their pro career. I think it's because there are just too many of them. Sometimes, though, a player jumps out because of performance- and that player for today is Christopher Masters (New Market 07).

Masters, an 11th round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2009, has had nothing but success in pro ball. In '09, he went 8-4, 1.42 for Danville, with a 0.89 WHIP, 1.2 BB/9, and 11.0 K/9 in 69 2/3 innings.

Pretty impressive, right? Well, he's off to a great start at Rome this season, too. He's only 1-3 (no run support), but he has a 1.56 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, and 9.0 K/9 in 52 innings pitched. Do not be surprised if Christopher gets called up to Myrtle Beach soon- it doesn't look like he has much to prove at this level.

Well done, Christopher!

Tournament Update, Saturday

We say goodbye to two teams today...

NAIA

• Tennessee Wesleyan was eliminated from the NAIA World Series with a 10-3 loss to California Baptist. Wesleyan ends their season with a 46-18 record. Matt McCracken pitched 3 innings in the game, allowing 3 hits, 1 run (earned), 0 walks, and struck out 4.

• Embry-Riddle lost to Cumberland, 9-1. Steve Sabins accounted for the only run with a solo home run. Riddle will next play Belhaven on Monday at 8:30 AM (Oof- and PDT).

Division III

• Well, with Johns Hopkins playing Shenandoah in the loser's bracket, someone had to go home. The losing team, stunned with a 7-run 8th inning, is Shenandoah. The Hornets end their season with a 38-10 record. Kevin Brashears went 13 with an RBI, Jesse Henry went 0-4, Greg Van Sickler went 2-3 with 1 run, 3 RBI, a walk, and home run, and Scot Van Dusseldorp went 1-4. For Hopkins, Ryan Kahn did not pitch.

Garrett Wittels Has a Hitting Streak Going

Well, seeing as how he appeared on ESPN yesterday, I imagine that many of my readers already know about Garrett Wittles (Luray 09).

Wittles has a hitting streak going. A rather epic streak, actually. His streak reached 52 games Friday, bringing him to within 6 games of the record, set by Robin Ventura in 1987.

Wittles, through Florida International's first game of the day (his 51st game in a row), was hitting 417/469/542, with 17 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, and a 21/19 BB/K ratio.

Congratulations on the streak, Garrett!

Click here to read the article on mlb.com; it has video! (Garrett wears his stirrups old-school!)

Late Games From Friday

Two games were played late last night:

NAIA

• Oklahoma City ripped California Baptist, 8-0, in the first round of the NAIA World Series. Brad Riddle and Garret Parker did not pitch. OKC now plays Monday, against the winner of the Cumberland-Embry-Riddle game, which is played today at 3:00 PM (PDT).

Division III

• Shenandoah fell to Illinois Wesleyan, 7-5, in the first round of the D-III championship. Greg Van Sickler got the loss, giving up 6 earned runs in 6 innings. He went 1-4 with a walk and RBI at the plate. Kevin Brashears went 2-5 with a double and run, Jesse Henry went 1-4 with a run, and Scot Van Dusseldorp went 1-4, with a run, RBI, double, and hit-by-pitch. The Hornets will play Johns Hopkins in the loser's bracket today at 1:15 (Central). Therefore, we will say goodbye to one of our D-III teams today!

Tournament Update, Friday

Catching up on some late NAIA and Division III tournament games from Friday! (I'm at a soccer tournament all weekend- updates will be spotty...)

NAIA

• Embry-Riddle outlasted Tennessee Wesleyan in 12 innings, 3-2, in he first round of the NAIA World Series. Steve Sabins went 2-6, and Phil Reamy got the win after pitching a shutout 12th inning for Riddle. Jason Ferguson received the loss for Wesleyan, after giving up 2 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Riddle will move on to play Cumberland tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Wesleyan will try to keep its hopes alive tomorrow against the loser of Oklahoma City and California Baptist at noon.

• Oklahoma City played California Baptist in the late game- well after this dude has gone to bed. I'll try to update Saturday night.

Division III

• Johns Hopkins lost to Heidelberg in the first round of the Championship bracket, 3-2. Ryan Kahn did not pitch. Hopkins now will face the loser of Shenandoah-Illinois Wesleyan tomorrow at 1:15 PM.

• Shenandoah played in the late game. Report tomorrow.

MEAC All-Conference Honors

Hey, brilliant readers- keep the emails coming! Especially if you of former Valley Leaguers who have been named to all-conference teams- as that saves me a huge amount of searching.

Today's entry is from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which honored three former players.

• Bethune-Cookman's Ali Simpson (Harrisonburg 09), made the first team as a starter. Ali went 6-1, 4.55, with 58 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.

• BC's Ryan Durrence (Covington 09) also made the first team as an infielder. Ryan went 372/435/740 in 52 games (so far), with 16 doubles, 18 home runs, and a 19/36 BB/K ratio in 196 at-bats. Probably more importantly, however- Ryan made the first team All-Academic Team, too. There's a guy after ATVL's own heart!

• Norfolk State's Ryan Shook (Covington 09) was named to the second team as a relief pitcher. Ryan went 4-3, 2.70, with 6 saves and 39 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.

Congrats to all three!

Two More Records Set

I stumbled across two more school records set by former Valley League players- this time at Youngstown State.

• First of all, Aaron Swenson (Staunton 09) set the school record for most strikeouts in a career, with 254. On the year, he went 7-1, 5.83, with a 1.56 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, and 8.3 K/9 in 92 2/3 innings. He struck out 86 batters in those 92 2/3 innings. Aaron was one of the best starters in the league last year. 

• Secondly, Jacke Healey (Waynesboro 08, and pictured left) set the school record for most home runs in a season, with 12. He had a very successful year at the plate, hitting 354/429/603, with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 12 home runs, and a 25/50 BB/K ratio in 209 at-bats.

Way to go, guys!

Luray Roster Available!

A couple days ago, I posted Front Royal's roster- now it's Luray's turn. As most of the teams, Luray has a few returners. Let's take a look:

NAME	POS	B/T	CL	HT/WT	College	Hometown
Alfonso, Raiko	IF	S/R	SO	5’9/170	Florida International	Key West, FL
Batman, Nathan	IF/OF	R/R	JR	5'9/165	Bluefield St College	Shenandoah, Va
Blatt, Zach	P	R/R	SO	5’10/185	Auburn	Opelika, AL
Bowen, Caleb	C	R/R	SO	5’10/180	Auburn	Anniston, AL
Bradford, Chase	P	R/R	JR	6’1/195	Central Florida	Henderson, NV
Capote, Joel	OF	R/R	SO	5’10/175	Miami Dade	Miami, FL
Dades, Andrew	P	R/R	RSO	6’/190	High Point	Maitland, FL
Day, Dillon	P	L/L	FR	6’/160	Southern Mississippi	Geismas, LA
Farley, Jason	P	L/L	RSO	6’3/200	Virginia Military Institute	Vienna, VA
Fowler, Chase	C	S/R	FR	6’1/170	Southern Mississippi	Cumming, GA
Fradejas, Justin	OF	R/R	JR	6’1/190	Auburn	Pensacola, FL
Giannini, Cameron	P	R/R	FR	6’3/215	Liberty	Danville, VA
Grifin, Jonathan	IF	R/R	JR	6’6/210	Central Florida	Bradenton, FL
Haig, Phil	P	L/L	JR	6’3/205	Florida International	Inner Grove Heights, MN
Haitsuka, Alex	C	R/R	JR	6’3/190	Virginia Military Institute	Alexandria, VA
Henry, Jabri	OF	R/R	FR	6’1/200	Florida International	Orlando, FL
Herring, Neal	P	R/R	FR	6’2/200	Penn State	West Chester, PA
Jefferson, Jeff	OF/C	R/R	JR	6’1/215	Liberty	Danville, VA
Laney, Matt	P	L/L	JR	6’4/235	Coastal Carolina	Chester, VA
Murphy, Jonathan	OF	R/R	SO	6’1/190	Jacksonville	Jacksonville, FL
Neufang, Jery	C	R/R	JR	6’/205	Liberty	Stafford, VA
Phillips, Eric	IF	R/R	SO	6’2/195	Georgia Southern	Carrollton, GA
Reamy, Phil	RHP	R/R	JR	6'2/175	Embry-Riddle	Centreville, Va
Rickles, Nick	C	R/R	SO	6’2/195	Stetson	Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Roberts, Nate	OF	L/R	JR	6’2/200	High Point	Spring Grove, IL
Russell, Rick	IF/C	R/R	JR	6’/200	Memphis	Olive Branch, MS
Schluter, Kurt	IF/P	R/R	FR	6’3/	Stetson	Jupiter, Fl
Sedlock, Johnny	P	L/L	JR	5’10/165	Central Florida	Avon Park, FL
Showmar, Brandon	P	R/R	RFR	6’/180	Memphis	Little Rock, AR
Tucker, Jensen	P	R/R	JR	6'2/200	Embry-Riddle	Ormond Beach, Fl
Weiss, Cody	P	R/R	SO	6’/195	LaSalle	Orefield, PA

Returners include Alex Haitsuka from VMI, Jeff Jefferson, from Liberty (and one of the top hitters inthe league in 2008), Phil Reamy, from Embry-Riddle (about to start the NAIA finals), and Brandon Showmar, from Memphis.

Looks like another strong group in Bulldog territory this year!

(The only rosters still missing are Wayensboro and Covington)