HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox dropped a 9-4 decision to the Harrisonburg Turks in the 2019 Valley Baseball League season opener for both teams.
Harrisonburg (1-0) jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage and never trailed in Friday’s contest.
Charlottesville (0-1) trimmed the Harrisonburg lead to 3-2 in the top of the fifth, before the Turks answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame to regain control of the game.
Harrisonburg outhit the Tom Sox 12-5 on the night.
Left fielder Matthew Cooper and first baseman Walker Imwalle each registered one hit and scored a run for the Tom Sox in the top of the fifth inning.
Designated hitter Cole McNamee blasted a one-out double in the top of the sixth, but the Tom Sox could not cut into the four-run deficit in the frame.
Imwalle led Charlottesville with two runs scored.
The Tom Sox mounted one last charge in the top of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Kevin Madden singled to bring home Imwalle. The ensuing batter, McNamee, advanced to first base via a dropped strike-three, which allowed Greg Ryan to score.
The Tom Sox pulled to within three at 7-4, before ending the top half of the seventh with three men left on base.
Ryan finished Friday’s loss with one hit and an RBI.
Harrisonburg starting pitcher Austin Koehn retired the first eight Charlottesville batters and no-hit the Tom Sox through the first four innings.
Charlottesville will look for its first win of the season on Sunday at Valley Baseball League South Division-rival Staunton on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
