First-inning errors costly for Rebels in loss

By Dennis Atwood -- sports@nvdaily.com

NEW MARKET -- The Harrisonburg Turks and the New Market Rebels scored all their runs in the first two innings Friday night. The Turks scored twice in the first and held on for a 2-1 win in Valley Baseball League action.

Harrisonburg was gifted with two unearned runs in the top of the first inning as Rebels' second baseman Richard Gonzalez committed a very rare two errors on a ground ball with two runners on base, and they both scored the Turks' only runs.

New Market's Matt Townsend entered the game hitting .159, but went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a single. His second homer of the year, far over the center field wall, came with two outs in the second frame and accounted for all of the Rebels' scoring.

"I was just looking for a fastball anywhere in the zone, and I just happened to get it right in the middle," Townsend said. "I just tried not to miss it. I've been kinda' struggling all summer long and I've been trying to square the ball up of late and I just happened to get one right there."

While the Turks' runs were unearned, the victory for starter Drew Granier, a Valley League All-Star selection, was definitely earned. Granier mixed his fastballs with a curveball and turned in eight solid innings. He allowed five hits, had 13 strikeouts, and one walk to improve his record to 4-0.

"I felt good tonight," Granier said. "All my pitches were working, I got to spot my fastball, my once-in-a-while curve was good. When I have two strikes I like to throw slider. I just got that one pitch [to Townsend] down the middle and he got good wood on it. I just came out this summer to get a lot of innings and keep my arm in shape. It's turning out a little better than I expected."

New Market starter Joseph Hammond closely matching Granier's performance, also worked eight innings, scattered four singles among four Turks hitters, struck out seven and walked one. But those two unearned runs in the first inning saddled him with the tough loss, bringing his record to 0-2.

"It's one of those fluky things, he's been solid defensively all year long," Rebels acting head coach Corey Paluga said. "There was a bad hop, he charged it and [first baseman] Zack [Helgeson] came of the bag thinking he might be fielding the ball, and he was out of position for Richie's glove-handed toss. Who knows if, down the line, it would hurt us or not. It was early in the game and who would know they would be the only two runs they would score.

"With Hammond throwing a great game like he did, and we scored eight runs last night, five to come back in the ninth, and our offense was anemic tonight. It was all just fluky."

There was no respite from the mound heat for New Market in the ninth, as Harrisonburg second baseman Thomas Nichols relieved Granier and continued the dominance. Nichols was able to strike out Helgeson, induce a pop-up from George Carroll, and struck out Townsend to end the game and earn the save.

"It was a good ballgame, [but] we should not have scored, of course," Harrisonburg head coach Bob Wease said. "The ball game should have ended up 1-0 New Market. I'm going to take it and get on outta' here with the win. We need it. Hopefully we've turned this thing around. We started off 0-4 the second half, now we're 3-4 going down the stretch."

The Rebels' four-game winning streak came to a roller-coaster end as they dropped a 9-8 decision in 10 innings to the Winchester Royals on Thursday night.

"It's a long summer and you gotta keep the morale at an even keel. You can't get too up or too down," Townsend said. "We all have confidence in each other. We know we can do it. It's just about coming out here every night and trying to perform. Everyone' still upbeat."