NEWS

The New Market Rebels play two tough opponents during opening weekend of the 2014 season, but returning head coach C.J. Rhodes is looking forward to the challenge. On May 30, the Rebels travel to Veterans Memorial Park to meet the regular-season champion Turks. Their first home game at Rebel Park on May 31 is against the very team they lost to last season in the semi-finals, eventual champions the Waynesboro Generals.

The Rebels were shutout in the third and last game of the series by a score of 3-0. That game is fresh in the mind of Rhodes (Virginia Wesleyan ’09).

“Getting just short of our goal last summer and how that ended made the decision to wear the Rebel uniform again easy,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes will put on the uniform after wearing black and yellow at Randolph-Macon College serving as assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets. With him will be returning assistant coach Jeff Jefferson (Liberty University ’11) and newcomer Tim Leather (Concord University ’15). Jefferson played in the VBL for the now-defunct Luray Wranglers from 2008 to 2010.

“Jeff is my rock and a friend of mine that I’ve known the last two years,” said Rhodes “It was an honor to have him come back. The experience he is gaining with the VBL can open up a great college coaching job for him in the future.”

New Market Rebels president and general manager Bruce Alger, also known as the “Voice of the Rebels” since the middle of the 2001 season, is ready for his lucky 13th full season in that role. He and Rhodes will look to mold young baseball players in the Rebel tradition while building on the momentum of last year’s semi-final finish.

This year’s team features several position players from Virginia Commonwealth University, including returning catcher Walker Haymaker (Orlando, Fla.) who has appeared in nine games for the Rams. He can teach fellow VCU third baseman Darian Carpenter (Richmond, Va.) and outfielder Cody Acker (Silver Spring, Md.) a thing or two about the VBL. Carpenter, a rising sophomore, and Acker, a rising junior, are batting .294 in 17 at-bats and .297 in 212 at-bats, respectively, as of May 18 this season. VCU opens the Atlantic 10 tournament Wednesday against Richmond.

Two other returning players include ace right-handed pitcher Jake Perkins (Ferrum College, Appomattox, Va.) and shortstop Brandon Gum (George Mason University/Woodbridge, Va.). Perkins, a rising junior, had an 8-1 record and a 1.95 ERA which included two no-hitters. He was honored as the USA South Athletic Conference’s 2014 Pitcher of the Year.

Gum, a rising junior, turned in a .329 average in 164 at-bats, good for second on the GMU team. He hit .366 for the Rebels last season, good for second in the league only to Strasburg outfielder Jordan Tarsovich.

The fourth and last returning player to the Rebels is junior right-handed pitcher Joshua Falbo (West Virginia State University/Hurricane, W.Va.), who had a 0.71 ERA in 25.1 innings at WVSU.     

A local prospect to watch this season will be sophomore infielder Tanner Dofflemyer (Virginia Military Institute/Shenandoah, Va.). Dofflemyer batted .217 in 115 at-bats as a freshman on the starting lineup for the Keydets.

Rhodes expects the 2014 version of the Rebels to keep opponents’ runs to a minimum and continue to have a strong base-stealing team. Last year’s team had 112 stolen bases. Coach Rhodes wants to be even more aggressive as a team than last year.

“I hope my players will have the passion and want to give the best effort that day and every day during this summer season,” said Rhodes.

—Dom Calandra

Photo by HaymarketJoePhotography.com