Haymarket Wins Title

COVINGTON, Va. - Seventh-seeded Haymarket clinched the 2009 Valley League Baseball Lineweaver Cup Wednesday evening with a 6-1 victory over Covington.

The Senators (29-23) became the first higher-seeded team to win a series in the 2009 playoffs with Wednesday's victory over the eighth-seeded ‘Jacks (26-27).

The championship is also the first for Haymarket since the team joined the league in 2004 as the Loudoun Rangers.

Evan Noell scored the first two of the champions runs - he got things started in the third with a solo HR to left and scored what proved to be the series-winner in the fifth.

In that frame, Noell drew a two-out walk and scored all the way from first when championship series MVP Michael Lang drilled a double over JJ Muse in left-center.

Lammar Guy sandwiched those two runs by hitting a solo shot in the third for the ‘Jacks.

Covington placed runners in scoring position with no outs in both the sixth and seventh, but could only watch as Senators pitchers Robert Van Woert (3-0) and Mark Andrews worked out of trouble both times.

In the sixth, Van Woert struck out JJ Muse and Marcus Nidiffer on balls in the dirt before finishing off the inning by getting Ryan Durrence to fly to left.

One inning later, Andrews came on for Van Woert with a runner on first and promptly allowed a bunt single to dig the hole even deeper. Following a sacrifice bunt, Andrews struck out Junior Arrojo on a pitch that nicked the inside corner and then turned the same trick on Guy.

Haymarket made things nearly academic with a four-run eighth - Noell, who came into the game with four RBI all season and played in 2007 and 2008 for Covington, put the final nail into his former team's coffin with a two-run single down the left field line.

Van Woert was the winner - he struck out six in 6.0 innings of work before Andrews got the final nine outs to earn the save.