The Valley Baseball League announced Wednesday that Haymarket third baseman Greg Hopkins and pitcher Matt Benedict were selected for the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Summer Classic All-Star game in Waldorf, Md., on July 15.
The contest pits the VBL All-Stars against an all-star club from the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League and will be played at Regency Furniture Stadium, the home venue of the independent Atlantic League's Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
Hopkins and Benedict were named VBL North All-Stars earlier this week, making them eligible for the Mid-Atlantic Summer Classic. The VBL picked its 28-player roster from the 56 players participating in the VBL All-Star game scheduled for July 12.
Hopkins is the league leader in hitting, owning a .410 average heading into Wednesday's contests. He is also third in slugging percentage at .630 and is tied for the most doubles with nine. The rising junior from St. John's University also leads the Senators with three home runs and 21 RBI.
The Mansfield, Mass. native was named the VBL North Division Player of the Week June 28 after hitting .500 in eight games during that stretch.
Benedict has been one of the Senators' best starting pitchers with a 2.10 ERA in 25 and two-thirds innings. A Western Carolina product, Benedict has held opponents to a .198 average, fourth-best in the league, and has 26 strikeouts. The right-hander is 2-1 on the year.
In addition to Hopkins and Benedict, Senators left-handed reliever Jack Leathersich was named to the team as an alternate. Leathersich and Fauquier's Kyle Putnam were picked to replace originally selected pitchers should they be unavailable following the league's all-star game just three days earlier.
Leathersich is tied for second in the league with 31 strikeouts despite pitching just 16 innings.
The game will be broadcast on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network live in high-definition. In addition, the VBL will provide an audio webcast available at valleyleaguebaseball.com with play-by-play by Scott Newell, one of Haymarket's owners.
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