STAUNTON -- Just a short drive over the Blue Ridge mountains, several Virginia baseball players are spending their summers competing in the wooden bat Shenandoah Valley Baseball League.
The League is composed of ten teams located throughout the northern portion of the Valley -- the Covington Lumberjacks, Front Royal Cardinals, Harrisonburg Turks, Haymarket Senators, Luray Wranglers, New Market Rebels, Staunton Braves, Waynesboro Generals, Winchester Royals and Woodstock River Bandits. The 40-game schedule spans over the months of June and July.
The Staunton Braves currently feature two Cavaliers -- senior outfielder Mike Mitchell and sophomore right-handed pitcher Jake Rule. As of Tuesday, Staunton's record stood at 14-23, placing the Braves in fourth place of the South Division.
Rule sat out the 2006 season after transferring to Virginia following his freshman year at the College of William and Mary. He has appeared in eight games -- including four starts -- for the Braves thus far and has posted a 3-3 record with a 3.38 earned run average.
Mitchell has appeared in 72 games for Virginia over the past three years and has started 47 times. In 2006, he batted .317 and drove in 11 runs. He also stole 15 bases. The Chesapeake native is using his time with the Braves to gain more experience and work on various facets of his game.
"I've been trying to bunt the ball more and work on my small game," Mitchell said following Monday evening's 4-3 win over Haymarket at Ted Bosiack Field in Staunton. "My game is basically speed, so I'm trying to work on that and steal every chance that I get."
Mitchell, who leads off for the Braves, got off to a slow start but has been able to rebound. He is currently hitting .235 with 8 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Mitchell, who spent last summer playing in the Coastal Plains League, has been happy with his experience in the Valley League.
"It's been good because earlier on I was struggling a little bit so it's been good to try to fight through everything," he said. "It's a little bit different because we've been playing every day so it's definitely a grind everyday. The atmosphere is a lot different from ACC play where we have huge crowds and it is easy to get pumped up. Out here, we kind of have to get ourselves pumped up to come out with the intensity that we need."
Mitchell also commented on the adjustment to using wooden bats.
"It's definitely a big difference," he said. "The sweet spot is different and you have to adjust to the pitchers a bit differently."
Senior catcher Ryan Hudson also played for the Braves this year but quit after appearing in seven games and going 8-20 with 6 RBIs.
Two hours up Interstate 81 in Winchester, junior third baseman Patrick Wingfield has been starring for the Royals. He leads the team offensively with a .342 batting average and four home runs. He started at shortstop for the North All-Stars at the All-Star game in Harrisonburg July 9. The Royals stand in third place in the North Division with a 19-17 record.
The Shenandoah Valley Baseball League season ends July 25.
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