Haymarket eliminated from VBL playoffs

By Joe Conroy

Published: July 31, 2008

WAYNESBORO — Battling through adversity has been a staple trait with those associated with the Haymarket Senators for the past year and Thursday night’s do-or-die postseason game against top seed Waynesboro was no different.

Haymarket endured nearly folding last summer and this year is has dealt with a plethora of injuries that left the team with just 10 position players available for the Valley Baseball League playoffs. The Senators even had to use three players who are normally relegated to just pitching duties in last night’s season-ending 11-5 loss to the Generals.

But the way the team battled both during the season and through that defeat was just what the Haymarket ownership and coaching staff expected to see.

The Senators ran into a “complete package” in Waynesboro right-hander Jake Cowan, a University of Virginia hurler. Cowan limited Haymarket to just three hits and struck out 12 in seven shutout innings.

“I was happy to see him go when they took him out,” head coach Ryan Fecteau said smiling. “He had four pitches that he could throw for a strike in any count. He was one of the better pitchers we’ve seen all summer.”

Once Cowan left, the Senators took advantage of the Generals’ bullpen, hitting all three pitchers that appeared in the eighth inning. Haymarket tallied five runs on six hits in the frame, including a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by game two starting pitcher Matt Davis. Unfortunately for the Senators, it was too little, too late.

Haymarket starter Dean Wolosiansky was sharp through three innings, allowing just one run on three hits but lost his command by the fourth and allowed four runs before exiting with one out.

“He was getting a blister on his (right) middle finger so that started altering his fastball,” catcher Chris Haynes said. “Other than that, I thought he looked good.”

After Wolosiansky left the game, the Senators suffered another four-run inning in the sixth that included a two-run home run by Brandon Sizemore, just one of the Generals’ star hitters.

Scott Newell, a member of the Rivalry Group ownership for the Senators, said he was pleased with the progress the franchise showed this year and is ready for the next step in the process.

“To see the rag-tag team that we had out there, three pitchers in the lineup, no DH, we can’t ask for anything else,” Newell said of his team’s effort. “I talked to Mr. (Jim) Crister, the owner of the Generals and he said we should be proud. Everything we did was noticed (throughout the league). His team was like this about five years ago and he gave us some tips for next year.”