Charles Makes Most of Short Stint in Valley League

STAUNTON – It didn’t take long for Matthew Charles to realize he was taking a big step up in competition this summer when he took the mound in the Valley Baseball League.

Charles, a reliever at Mary Baldwin and a former standout at Riverheads High, joined the Staunton Braves late this summer and his first appearance on the mound was an eye-opener.

“Honestly, it was kind of shocking,” Charles said in recalling his first outing in the VBL. “My first inning at Culpeper I faced a guy from Arizona State, a guy from Mississippi State and the Division III National Player of the Year.

“It’s a lot different than what I face in college. In our conference, North Carolina Wesleyan, they have some dogs. I faced some good hitters in college, but nothing like the Valley League. Every guy that comes to the plate can hit.”

Charles pitched 11.1 innings in four appearances. He allowed nine hits and struck out 11 batters.

His 5.55 ERA in four summer appearances is somewhat misleading. In his third outing of the summer, again facing Culpeper, Charles retired the first eight batters he faced before allowing a double and a long ball. He then pitched another 1-2-3 inning. A short reliever by trade, the Braves tried to stretch the big right-hander one more inning, but he ran out of gas and allowed three more runs.

He had his best outing in his final appearance of the summer, once again against Culpeper. Charles pitched three scoreless innings and did not allow a hit. He struck out four and walked one.

“The last outing went about as well as it could go,” Charles said. “I threw a lot of strikes and got ahead of the hitters.”

Charles’ summer efforts were a continuation of a solid spring at MBU where he established himself as one of the team’s most reliable relief pitchers.

In his final seven outings of the college season, Charles pitched 12 innings and posted a 3.75 ERA in those appearances.

“I worked a lot with my pitching coach at school on just trying to be more consistent and throwing more strikes. I started to figure it out a little bit toward the end of our season and tried to carry it over to the summer.”

The time with the Braves kicked up his confidence level.

“100 percent. My confidence was through the roof, especially after that last outing in Culpeper,” Charles said. “Overall, I thought I pitched pretty well this summer.

"I just need to take that confidence into the fall and keep working to get better,” he added. "Pitching in the Valley League was a great opportunity and I was happy to get that experience.”