The Shadow
The Covington Lumberjacks 2022 Valley League Baseball (VBL) season has come to an end after being swept in the first round of the VBL playoffs by the Charlottesville TomSox.
After two back to back rain outs for game one of the best three series between the Lumberjacks and the TomSox in the first round of the 2022 VBL playoffs, the two teams finally were able to get on the diamond on Thursday.
After both organizations came to an agreement, the series would finally start (of course weather pending) on Thursday for a doubleheader, but not in Charlottesville where the TomSox play, but in Harrisonburg at Eagle Field at Memorial Stadium home of the Harrisonburg Turks and the James Madison Dukes.
During the regular season, doubleheaders were only seven innings long before extra innings (if necessary). Since this wasn’t an original planned doubleheader and is in the playoffs, Thursday’s doubleheader would have the full nine innings.
At first things did not look well for the series to finally begin on Thursday. With the first game set for 3:00 p.m., dark clouds hovered over Harrisonburg in the afternoon and then rain started to come down by 12:30 p.m.
Not long after the rain started, the sky began to open up and the sun came out shining as ever. It was 92 degrees before you knew it.
We were finally going to get this series started after three days.
Down the stretch of the regular season, the TomSox were on of the hottest teams in the VBL as they won eight of their last 10 games to clinch a share of the South Division title, but clinched the top overall seed in the South Division ahead of the Waynesboro Generals.
The Lumberjacks meanwhile, did just enough to hold off the Staunton Braves for the final playoff spot in the South. The Lumberjacks down the stretch won five out of their last 10 games.
Unfortunately for the Lumberjacks and despite getting a couple extra days off to cool down the TomSox, the Lumberjacks were swept in the doubleheader at Harrisonburg on Thursday losing both games to the TomSox.
In game one, the TomSox eased by the Lumberjacks 13-2 and in the evenings second game which was the second game of the series, the TomSox held off the Lumberjacks and sent them home packing for the winter following a 6-2 victory to advance to the VBL semifinals. Read the full recaps of games one and two below.
For the Lumberjacks, the team showed a lot of heart all season long. With players coming in and out, they showed the will to strive for success. Not always did it seem like things were going right for the team, but they always knew how to bounce back.
The Lumberjacks opened the season winning their first three games, but then lost six in a row following to fall to 3-6. Before you knew it, the Lumberjacks were 5-10. The team as mentioned would bounce back and won six of their next seven games to pull to an even .500 baseball club at 11-11. Following the All-Star break, the Lumberjacks won four out of their first five games and clinched the fourth and final spot in the South Division and reached the playoffs.
One year after the team looked as if it was headed for a playoff spot in 2021, had to end their season early due to COVID-19.
A year later, new head coach, Renny Tolentino, brought the Lumberjacks back to playoff baseball. And while the team fell short of its ultimate goal winning a championship, the team has brought back the excitement in Covington Lumberjacks baseball.
While the season may be over the for the Lumberjacks, there’s a lot of positive things to look back at this 2022 VBL season for the team.
For the TomSox, following their sweep of the Lumberjacks, they will advance in the VBL playoffs and will host the Waynesboro Generals after the Generals won their decisive game three over the Harrisonburg Turks 13-8 in Waynesboro on Thursday. Their series will begin tonight in Charlottesville.
As the Turks season comes to an end, the question for their organization will be if this was Bob Wease’s final year as the teams owner and head coach. Wease announced last year that the team was being put up for sale. While no one purchased the team by the start of the 2022 VBL campaign, Wease returned to the dugout for his 19th season and his 32nd as President and General Manager. Wease who was one of the first ever VBL Hall of Fame inductees, saw his wife Teresa Wease be inducted this year into the Hall of Fame class for her 33 years of service with the Turks organization. She became the first female inducted in the VBL Hall of Fame.
In other VBL playoff series in the North Division, as mentioned in a previous article, the Woodstock River Bandits swept their first round series against the Front Royal Cardinals. The River Bandits will host the Purcellville Cannons in the next round of the VBL playoffs after the Cannons defeated the Strasburg Express 9-7 on the road in their decisive game three of their series. Their series will begin on Friday as well in Woodstock.
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In game one of the doubleheader, Trey Yesavage (W), was the difference make. In a big spot, Yesavage put together his best outing of the entire season as he picked up the victory following his seven inning performance where he allowed one run (unearned) on just three hits, while striking out seven and not recording a single walk. At one point, Yesavage retired eight straight batters including nine out of the final 11 he faced.
The Lumberjacks struggled at the plate all game long against the TomSox pitching as the team settled for only five hits in the game and as a team were just 5-for-36 at the plate.
The teams first run came in the seventh inning where they were already trailing 7-0. The run scored by Gavin Baird was the result in an error committed by the TomSox. In the ninth inning the Lumberjacks second run came on a solo home run from Nate Stocum (2-for-3). Stocum and Mason Hammonds (2-for-4) led the way in hits for the Lumberjacks with two each.
The TomSox grabbed an early 2-0 advantage in the second inning thanks to RBI’s from Matthew Prevesk (2-for-4) and Brody Moss (0-for-2). It would be the only runs scored in the game for a few innings.
As the TomSox were leading by three runs, 3-0, the team would open the game up to a seven run lead following a four run fifth inning to take a 7-0 lead in large part thanks to a three-run home run off of the bat of Nicholas Ericsson (3-for-4). Ericsson led the TomSox offense with a game-high three hits. The TomSox had four players finish with two or more hits each. Ericsson finished with three hits in four at bats that went along with three RBI’s. Meanwhile, Prevesk led all batters with a four RBI performance.
Trevor Wall (L) suffered the loss for the Lumberjacks. Wall allowed seven runs (six earned on eight hits, while walking one, and striking out one. Michael Pavelchak (0-for-3) who was the teams centerfielder the first eight innings, pitched a shutout ninth inning where he allowed just one hit.
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July 28, 2022
Lumberjacks at TomSox
(in Harrisonburg)
Game 1 of best of 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
CL 0 0 00 0 0 1 0 1 2 5 3
TS 0 2 0 1 4 0 3 3 x 13 13 2
Lumberjacks Batting
Batter AB H RBI R W SO
Pineyro 4 0 0 0 0 1
Stocum 3 2 1 1 0 0
Ketzner 4 1 0 0 0 0
Piulats 3 0 0 0 1 1
Baird 4 0 0 1 0 1
Hammonds 4 2 0 0 0 0
Castillo 4 0 0 0 0 2
Ward 3 0 0 0 0 3
Pavelchak 3 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 32 5 1 2 1 8
TomSox Batting
Batter AB H RBI R W SO
Martin 5 1 0 1 0 0
Cunningham 5 1 1 2 0 2
Wagner 4 2 1 2 1 0
Yunger 5 2 0 1 0 0
Spikes 3 1 2 2 0 0
Ericsson 4 3 3 4 0 0
Prevesk 4 2 4 1 0 2
Stossel 1 0 0 0 0 0
Edwards 3 1 1 0 1 0
Moss 2 0 1 0 1 1
TOTAL 36 13 13 13 3 5
Lumberjacks Pitching
Pitcher IP H R ER BB S0
Wall (L) 5 8 7 6 1 3
Eischen 2 4 6 3 2 2
Pavelchak 1 1 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 8 13 13 9 3 5
TomSox Pitching
Pitcher IP H R ER BB SO
Yesavage (W) 7 3 1 0 0 7
Cash 2 2 1 1 1 1
TOTAL 9 5 2 1 1 8
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Needing a win to force a decisive game three for Friday night, the Lumberjacks threw out everything they could, but came up a little bit short as the team dropped their second game of the series 6-2. The loss ended the Lumberjacks season.
The Lumberjacks hit the ball well in the second game which was also played in Harrisonburg. The team also had great defense and played error-free baseball.
Despite their best efforts, the TomSox prevailed.
Backed by a lineup that strung together a dozen hits, including four player with two or more hits, the TomSox did just enough to edge past the Lumberjacks and advance in the VBL postseason.
In the third inning, the TomSox jumped out in front with a 2-0 lead following an RBI single from Christian Martin and an RBI ground rule double from Carter Cunningham.
However, the lead would not last long.
The Lumberjacks quickly erased their two run deficit in the bottom half of the inning by tying the game on an RBI double from Mason Hammonds and an RBI single from Nate Stocum.
After only scoring two runs in the first game coming in the final couple of innings, the Lumberjacks felt as if they had something finally going in the series by tying the game early on.
That momentum didn’t last long.
The hottest team in VBL wouldn’t allow two runs to phase them as the TomSox quickly moved past giving up the tying runs in the previous inning by putting up four runs on the scoreboard in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead.
Kalvin Alexander broke a 2-2 tie by crushing a two-run home run that put the TomSox back out in front by two runs at 4-2. The TomSox would add two more runs in the inning the on an RBI single from Gavin Abrams (2-for-4) and an RBI single from Christian Martin (3-for-5) that put the TomSox ahead four runs at 6-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Carlos Castillo (1-for-4) would hit a leadoff double to open the inning. With one out, Castillo would advance to third base on a wild pitch during the next batters at bat. Jackson Nove (W) would come in and save the inning for the TomSox by not allowing a run to keep the score the same at 6-2.
It would be more of the same the rest of the way for the Lumberjacks as Nove and Drew Bryan did their job on the mound to keep the Lumberjacks off the bases and off of the scoreboard. The duo combined to pitch five shutout innings, including hold the Lumberjacks to three hits in those five innings as the team was held to 3-for-17 batting in the final five innings.
While the team had 10 hits, the Lumberjacks finished with three players having two or more hits. Stocum led the way in the second game with a three-hit performance. Meanwhile, Michael Pavelchak (2-for-4) and Michael Piulats (2-for-3) each had two hits.
The Lumberjacks relief pitching did all they could to keep the team in the game after Landon Lucas (L) allowed six runs (all earned) on eight hits in 3.1 innings. The relief pitching pitched a combined 5.2 scoreless innings where they allowed just four hits, four walks, and struck out three.
The Lumberjacks left nine base runners stranded in the loss.
July 28, 2022
TomSox at Lumberjacks
(in Harrisonburg)
Game 2 of best of 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
TS 0 0 2 4 00 0 0 0 6 12 0
CL 0 0 2 0 00 0 0 0 2 10 0
TomSox Batting
Batter AB H RBI R W SO
Martin 5 3 2 1 0 0
Cunningham 5 1 1 0 0 0
Wagner 5 2 0 0 0 0
Yunger 5 0 0 0 0 0
Spikes 2 1 0 1 1 1
Amiss 2 0 0 0 0 1
Alexander 3 2 2 1 2 0
Prevesk 5 0 0 0 0 1
Edwards 2 1 0 2 2 0
Abrams 4 1 2 1 0 1
TOTAL 38 6 12 6 5 4
Lumberjacks Batting
Batter AB H RBI R W SO
Pavelchak 4 2 0 0 1 2
Pineyro 4 1 0 1 1 1
Ketnzer 4 0 0 1 0 0
Hammonds 4 1 1 0 0 0
Stocum 4 3 1 0 0 0
Piulats 4 2 0 0 1 1
Baird 2 0 0 0 1 1
Lucas 4 0 0 0 0 0
Castillo 4 1 0 0 0 1
TOTAL 33 10 2 2 4 6
TomSox Pitching
Pitcher IP H R ER BB S0
Olsen 3 6 2 2 3 0
Nove (W) 5 4 0 0 1 3
Bryan 1 0 0 0 0 3
TOTAL 9 10 2 2 4 6
Lumberjacks Pitching
Pitcher IP H R ER BB SO
Lucas (L) 3.1 8 6 6 1 1
Bonnett 2.2 1 0 0 2 0
Gorczyca 2 2 0 0 1 1
Burkholder 1 1 0 0 1 2
TOTAL 9 12 6 6 5 4
