Haymarket makes history

Grant Sasser peered in to catcher Evan Noell for the 0-2 sign, receiving a request for a changeup.

The N.C. State left-hander agreed, reared back and hurled the offering that danced just under Zac Caito’s bat—strike three.

And with that pitch, history was made for the Haymarket Senators franchise.

Sasser’s second strikeout in two innings of work sealed a 7-2 victory over Staunton in Game 2 of the Valley Baseball League playoffs. Coming on the heels of a lopsided game against the same opponent Sunday, Monday’s win was the second of the postseason for the Senators and the first series triumph in the program’s five-year history.

Unsurprisingly it was all-star Greg Hopkins in the middle of just about everything the Senators did yesterday, driving in three runs, scoring three of his own and hitting the game’s only home run. He was also involved in turning three of Haymarket’s four double plays, manning shortstop for an injured Sam Greenberg who is day-to-day with a sore hamstring.

“I love playing short, actually,” said Hopkins, who typically plays third base. “I like being in the middle of the diamond. I couldn’t do it without [Tom] La Stella over at second.”

Hopkins’ day started off with an RBI-single in the first inning to give the Senators a lead they would never surrender. Shortly after he deposited an 0-1 pitch beyond the left field fence for a two-run shot, a blast that escaped the field of play just to the left of the scoreboard at Battlefield Park. The homer put the Senators up 4-1 after three innings.

“I’ll take it, man. Anything to get some RBIs up on the board,” Hopkins said. “That was a goal, to get ahead early and try to let our pitchers relax a little bit.”

Starter Matt Benedict, after shaking some early wildness, settled in with the three-run lead and used his sinker to work out of trouble whenever it would find him.

“It took a little while to find it out there,” Benedict said of his control. “Once I figured out how my ball was moving, it was easy to get them to hit groundballs.

“Pretty much every game it’s the same thing,” the right-hander added. “I have to find my movement for the day because it’s different day-to-day. Once I find how the ball is moving, I can put it wherever.”

Benedict scattered seven hits over his seven innings of work, striking out two. He allowed the only scoring the Braves mustered. The Western Carolina University product induced double plays nearly at will, including one with bases loaded in the third inning.

After recording an out following a leadoff single in that frame, Benedict walked the next two hitters, putting himself in a self-inflicted jam. He then got Braves catcher Anthony Porter to bounce a first pitch to La Stella who fed Hopkins before sending the ball back to first to end the threat.

Haymarket won’t be back on the field until at least Wednesday and perhaps as late as Thursday with three other best-of-three series still underway. Two series were delayed Sunday afternoon with rainouts.

“This is good [the sweep] because it gives us an extra couple days,” head coach Ryan Fecteau said. “We’re getting a little thin in pitching as Kris Mengle and Kevin Johnson had to go home because they had arm issues.”

Fecteau said neither was a serious concern, but with the innings they threw this summer and during the collegiate season, it was best to shut them down for the rest of the offseason.

The Senators recovered from a late-season slump to secure their second straight playoff berth by beating Fauquier Saturday in a do-or-die game. In front of a capacity crowd in Haymarket, the Senators dispatched the Gators 5-2 and earned the seventh seed.

Haymarket followed that performance up with a 14-5 drubbing of No. 2 Staunton Sunday behind the hitting of La Stella and infielder Scot Van Dusseldorp. La Stella was 4 of 6 with a game-high five RBI that included a home run and a double while Van Dusseldorp went 5 for 6 with three runs driven in.

Reliever Mark Andrews earned the win that night with four innings on the mound and two strikeouts. He allowed just two hits and one run.

“I don’t know, we’re hot right now, that’s what it came down to,” Hopkins said. “Coach has been saying throughout the whole season: it’s the team that gets hot at the right time. It’s a commonly used cliché, but it’s the truth. You see it all the time everywhere, the Major Leagues, here, everywhere.”