Haymarket wins opener in VBL semis

NEW MARKET--With a week left in the season, Ryan Fecteau lamented his team's ability to get its hitting, pitching and fielding all playing well on one night.

Thursday night, in the Valley Baseball League semifinals, Haymarket granted its second-year coach's wish with a victory over No. 6 New Market in which the Senators executed all three facets to virtual perfection.

"I was kind of worried about taking two days off," Fecteau said, "but they did a pretty good job overall. We're confident. We're really taking it one game at a time."

North Carolina State left-hander Grant Sasser took the Rebel Park mound for the seventh seeded Senators, and like his previous eight starts this season, baffled his opposition, allowing just one hit and striking out nine on his way to a 6-0 win, putting Haymarket up 1-0 in the best-of-three series. Haymarket can advance to the VBL finals with a win tonight when it hosts New Market at 7:30 p.m. at Battlefield High School.

Sasser, he of the 5-0 record and 2.04 ERA entering last night's contest, employed the changeup he developed this summer to keep New Market's hitters off-balance throughout the six innings he worked.

"He was awesome," said catcher Evan Noell. "He was mixing his pitches in and out, both sides of the plate, up and down. He had everything working tonight and they were chasing balls out of the zone, swinging over pitches in the zone, he looked real good."

"He pitched backwards," New Market coach Lucas Jones said. "There weren't a whole lot of fastballs and when he did throw them, they probably played harder than they were. He stymied us."

At one point Sasser retired seven straight--including five strikeouts in a row--from the first inning to the first two outs of third. He did escape two bases loaded jams in the first and third, both created by his own hand when he walked or hit five in those two frames.

Overall, the Senators' pitchers--Sasser and relievers Jack Leathersich and Mark Andrews--stranded 11 Rebels on the base paths, including leaving the bases loaded three times.

"In those situations," Sasser said, "you've just got to think positive. I tried to throw strikes and not give them something to hit it out, but tried to let them hit it and get out of it anyway possible.

"I felt pretty good tonight and I felt my changeup was the big pitch tonight," he said. "I've got to credit the catcher. We've really worked well together this year. I hardly have to shake him off in a game. He's the brains behind it and I just throw it where he tells me to."

The offense allowed Sasser's efforts to stand up, scoring three runs in the third with two coming on Tom La Stella's two-out home run. Haymarket (25-22) sent eight hitters to the plate that inning and saw Michael Lang and Greg Hopkins hit doubles off the wall.

Winners of six straight, the Senators had five extra-base hits last night and have scored 27 runs in their last three games, including 21 against the second-seeded Staunton Braves in the quarterfinals.

"I thought we came out a little slow compared to what we had been doing," Fecteau said. "That's fine--you're not going to come out hot every time."

Andrew Lawrence chipped in on defense--as well as at the plate with a 2-for-3 day, reaching base four times--when he snagged a low liner to end the threat in the fourth, stranding two Rebels, the last base runners Sasser allowed to New Market (24-24).

The win, along with No. 8 Covington's 2-1 victory over No. 5 Winchester last night, marks the extension of a trend in this year's playoffs as the lower seed won for the 10th time. In fact, no high seed made it out of the quarterfinals.