Ethan Laird had a stellar night on the mound, as he allowed just one hit and one unearned run as first-place New Market won at home 5-1 on Friday against Grottoes in Rockingham County Baseball League action.
The win clinches the regular-season title for New Market - the first since 1972 when the team was the Twin County Twins, according to current skipper Nolan Potts.
Laird, in his second start of the year, struck out eight batters and walked three and held Grottoes scoreless until the ninth. Frankie Ritter had three hits and scored twice for the Shockers and Luke Keister added two hits.
Harrisonburg got a big night from its 2021 James Madison players as the Turks won 7-4 on Monday at Waynesboro in Valley Baseball League action.
Liam McDonnell (James Madison) started on the mound for the Turks and allowed just one run in six innings before Logan McClure took over in the seventh.
Conor Hartigan had an RBI single as the Turks scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead and he finished with three hits. Hartigan announced last week he was transferring from JMU to Virginia Tech.
Jordan Sweeney (Rutgers) had two hits and drove in four runs for Harrisonburg. Waynesboro scored three runs in the last of the seventh to trim the lead to 7-4. The Turks are now 18-18 while Waynesboro is 18-20.