Haymarket Senators face Waynesboro Tuesday

By Joe Conroy

Published: July 28, 2008

The Haymarket Senators earned a Valley Baseball League playoff berth with a 6-4 win over Front Royal Saturday night. Now the Senators are preparing for their first postseason since 2006.

“It’s pretty exciting in the whole organization,” co-owner Scott Newell said Monday afternoon. Newell is a member of the franchise’s Rivalry Group ownership comprised of himself, his wife Jayme and Bernie and Robin Scaffler.

“This was one of our goals this year, to make the playoffs,” he said.

The Senators (18-26) finished as the eighth seed after Harrisonburg (19-25) beat Covington (23-21) 10-7 Monday night.

“(This) says something about the organization and the direction we’re headed,” Newell said. Last year the Senators finished last in the 11-team league with an 11-32-1 record. “It’s a first step, a baby step. There is definitely a sense of accomplishment in the organization, from the ownership to the players.”

The four first-round playoff series are set to begin Tuesday after Waynesboro defeated Luray 8-7 in 11 innings. The Waynesboro win forced a tie between the two squads in the standings with identical 30-14 records. Official VBL rules state that a one-game playoff would be played to break the tie, but coaches for both teams agreed before the extra-inning game that the winner of Monday’s contest would earn the No. 1 spot.

Haymarket will head to Waynesboro for game one of the best-of-three series. Haymarket will host Waynesboro Wednesday. The championship round is best-of-five.

“The guys are pretty excited,” Newell said after talking to players during an off-day workout. “They said they’re all hoping for an extra day’s rest.”

For more information, visit http://www.haymarketbaseball.com or http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com.