Senators at .500

After starting the year 0-2, including a 10-1 loss in their home opener, the Haymarket Senators were winners of their last two games and owned an even 3-3 mark entering last night’s rescheduled contest at Winchester.
The first win of the year didn’t come easy, either, forcing the summer wood-bat league team to wait 14 innings before filling the ‘W’ column June 11 when they beat Harrisonburg 6-5.
“They say the first one is toughest,” Haymarket head coach Ryan Fecteau said. “All the games are usually dogfights with the wood bats. Our pitching has been pretty good so far.”
The Senators led 5-2 entering the ninth, but the Turks rallied to tie the game off closer Matt Benedict who Fecteau said hadn’t pitched in weeks.
“Mark Kuzma started that game, the left-hander from Lemoyne,” Fecteau said. “Then, we had Jack Leathersich pitch out of the ’pen in extras and Bob Van Woert got out of three jams three consecutive innings. He got really big for us.”
In the bottom of the 14th, Evan Noell singled, driving in Tom La Stella for the walk-off victory.
It wasn’t long before the Senators played another extra-innings game, falling to Fauquier 3-2 the next night in 11.
But since that first win,Fecteau says the Senators are finally starting to find their rhythm on the field and are more comfortable each night. Haymarket defeated Front Royal 3-1 June 13 and followed it up with a 6-3 win over Harrisonburg the next night.
“It’s been a matter of getting timely hits,” the second-year coach said. “We were struggling with getting those hits with runners in scoring position, but as of late, they’ve started to come through a little bit more in the clutch.”
No rest for Lawrence
Playing 25 innings in two days doesn’t bother Senators outfielder Andrew Lawrence, not after playing in an NCAA-record 25 in one game during the college tournament’s regional round.
Lawrence played all three outfield positions for Boston College in the loss to Texas, batting nine times and was hit by a pitch.
“It was a lot of fun and to be part of something like that that becomes part of history is pretty cool,” said Lawrence, in his second year with Haymarket. “The worst part about it was we had to come back the next morning and play Army and I think the whole team was just worn out.”
So when Lawrence arrived with his summer league club, extra frames was not something he was necessarily looking forward to.
“Fourteen is definitely easier than 25 and 11 is easier than 14,” Lawrence said with a laugh. “Anytime you get into a game like that, it’s always going to be a little bit of extra pressure, but it can be a little extra fun, too.”
Lawrence was 2 for 10 in the Senators’ extra-inning affairs, driving in a run.
Hopkins, Demma leading Senators
Although Fecteau says his whole team is starting to find their strokes, two players have located them perhaps a little quicker than the rest.
Greg Hopkins and Michael Demma lead the Senators in 11 offensive categories between the two of them.
Hopkins, a sophomore third baseman from St. John’s University, is the team leader in batting average (.462), slugging (.692) and RBI (five) as well as eight other stats making him more than just an outstanding defensive player at the hot corner.
“He’s like a vacuum over there,” Fecteau said. “He’s not just making the routine plays, but he’s taking away hits.
“The middle of the order has been swinging it pretty good, too,” Fecteau added.
Hopkins has three doubles and the club’s only home run of the year.
Demma, a junior from Florida Tech, is second in hitting with a .370 average, also driving in five runs. Despite hitting cleanup, Demma has shown off good speed as well, swiping a team-high three bases.