Lawrence's home run sinks Royals

By Ben Brooks -- sports@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- Haymarket leadoff hitter Andrew Lawrence insists he harbors no ill will toward his former team.

Perhaps not, but Lawrence's two-out, two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning inflicted plenty of damage in the Senators' 4-2 Valley Baseball League victory over the Winchester Royals on Monday night at Bridgeforth Field.

With both starting pitchers -- Winchester's Brandon Sinnery and Haymarket's Matt Benedict -- tossing dual masterpieces through five innings, Lawrence came to the plate with two outs in the sixth and lofted an opposite-field homer to left-center that put the Senators ahead 2-0.

Heading into the sixth, Sinnery had a perfect game going. Evan Noell broke that up with a bloop single to center to start the sixth. He was caught stealing, but Sam Greenberg singled up the middle and Lawrence followed with his first homer of the season.

"When we came in that inning coach pulled our hitters aside and told us to start taking some pitches," said Lawrence, the Boston College sophomore centerfielder who left Winchester midway through last season for Haymarket. "For me, I was taking all the way on the first pitch, trying to use that to help me later. He threw me an outside fastball, and I just tried to get my bat on the ball. I was lucky it went out."

"If you trust yourself you don't have to jump on that first pitch," Senators manager Ryan Fecteau said. "If you can see a lot of pitches and get deeper into the count it not only benefits you but also the other guys who maybe later on recognize some of those pitches."

Lawrence, originally from Richmond, said it wasn't really his decision to leave Winchester last summer. His college coach just wanted him to get more at-bats, and his playing time with the Royals was limited.

"There wasn't anything bad going on or anything," said Lawrence, who entered Monday's game batting .217. "Winchester's a great place and a great team to play for."

With Lawrence staking the Senators (4-3 overall, 2-3 in the North) to the lead against their division rivals, Benedict and Haymarket's bullpen took care of the rest. In his VBL first start of the season, Benedict held the Royals (3-5, 1-4) to just two singles through six innings. The only time Winchester got a runner to third base during his time on the mound came when Benedict made an errant pickoff throw to second in the sixth. Benedict, a 6-foot-5, Western Carolina junior right hander, struck out six and walked two.

"He's the kind of guy who can win in this league with just his fastball," Fecteau said of Benedict. "He's got a lot of movement on it. He's got a good sinker and gets a lot of groundballs and weak contact."

Sinnery kept the Royals in the game. In his first official appearance this summer (he threw two innings against Haymarket in a game that was rained out), the University of Michigan freshman right hander went seven innings, struck out six, didn't walk a batter, and scattered five hits, three of which came in the sixth inning. He also surrendered Peter Onorato's solo homer to left in the seventh before turning the game over to the bullpen.

"I was pleased with the pace in which he pitched," Royals manager John Lowery Jr. said. "He throws strikes. That's something we've been stressing around here, the value of throwing strikes. We didn't make any errors, and we put together a few good at-bats later in the game. But their pitcher did the same thing. You've got to tip your cap to him. Some nights it's just going to be like that."

One night after collecting 17 hits in a win over Fauquier, the Royals were held to just four. Haymarket reliever Robert Van Woert pitched a hitless seventh and eighth before Jack Leathersich was called on for the ninth.

Trailing 4-0, the Royals made things interesting. First baseman Jordan Steranka lead off with a solo homer to right. Aaron Dudley was hit by a pitch and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.. One out later, Dave Fallon drove in Winchester's second run with an infield single. Leathersich finally ended it by getting his second strikeout of the inning and retiring Brad Zapenas on a flyout to right.