Generals top Royals after odd start

Waynesboro took advantage of some gifts in the first inning and added the insurance with two clutch hits in the sixth to capture a 6-1 win in seven innings against Winchester at Fishburne Military School Park at Kate Collins Field.

The Royals were wild early, resulting in 11 straight balls from starter Matt Gerbe. Gerbe was taken out by a visibly frustrated Winchester coach John Lowery after walking the first four batters, giving the Generals a run.

After a sacrifice fly by Rhett Stafford, the Generals took a 2-0 lead without the benefit of a hit.

“I kind of forgot about how we scored in the first …,” Waynesboro coach Andy Chalot said. “We looked up his numbers and he only had seven walks in 39 innings. I told the kids he would probably be around the zone and get ready to swing and come out. We were surprised with that.”

With the threat of rain imminent, Waynesboro starter Ryan Knott held the Royals at bay in the first and the second, stranding six runners on base through the first two innings of play.

Knott settled down after the first two innings, making the Royals work for base runners.

Knott (1-0) gave up one hit in the next three innings of work, striking out a total of seven and walking two.

Closer Chris Enourato entered the game in the sixth inning in relief of Andrew Saab with runners first and third and no one out with the rain coming down to attempt a possible save if the rain did not let up.

“With what I saw, with the way it was starting to rain, that is how I was playing it,” Chalot added. “If we needed someone to close at the end I would have done it then, but to me, that was the big point in the game.”

Enourato started his work off with striking out pinch hitter Jordan Ballard.

Michael Vargas smacked a ground ball to Enourato, who looked back Gregory DeSantis to third before picking up the second out of the inning.

A walk to Kevin Garcia and a wild pitch while Rooster Dudley was batting allowed DeSantis to scoring, making the game that much more interesting.

Dudley reached the bat out tapping a grounder to first baseman Ryan Mathews who ran to the bag, ending the threat in the process.

Waynesboro put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning after Mathews walked.

Nate Bayuk replaced Stephen Rivera following the walk after Rivera pitched five-plus innings of relief.

After Austin Smith struck out, Mark Dvoroznak picked up his second infield single of the night.

Several wild pitches later, Alex McClure drove in Mathews and Dvoroznak with a double down the left-field line.

Evan Stobbs, a defensive replacement in the top of the sixth, sandwiched a pop out by Tony Caldwell with another two-run double, icing the game.

Caldwell and Dvoroznak both went 2-for-3 to go along with the two-run doubles by Stobbs and McClure.

Waynesboro looks to bounce back from a 10-1 loss against Staunton on Sunday as the Generals host the Braves tonight.