CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — One day after clinching the VBL South Division, the Charlottesville Tom Sox (26-11) fell short against the Culpeper Cavaliers (18-15) by a score of 15-11. In what was the highest scoring game of the season for Charlottesville, a huge fifth-inning rally and a grand slam from Cooper Blauser (Jacksonville State) weren’t enough to earn a win on Women in Sports and Host Family Appreciation Night at Charlottesville High School.
After a quiet first inning, ‘Sox starter Landon Abrahamson (Dallas Baptist) ran into some command issues in the top of the second, ending his evening early and allowing the Cavaliers to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Brett Gastman (Charleston Southern) would take over midway through the frame and escape without further damage, but Culpeper managed to get to Gastman as well in the third.
In the third, the scoring derby for the Cavaliers continued as they added seven runs in the inning to take a massive early 10-0 lead over the ‘Sox. As the lead continued to stretch, Ayden Alexander (George Washington) relieved Gastman on the mound to finish the inning and briefly quiet the scorching Culpeper bats.
The ‘Sox offense showed its first signs of life in the bottom of the third as Charlottesville responded with three runs on three hits, a walk, and a couple errant Culpeper pitches. Caden Ferraro (Blinn) delivered the big blow of the frame with a two-RBI double to left field that brought home both Ethan Gibson (Virginia Tech) and Ryan Wynn (Wofford).
After Alexander put a pair of zeroes on the board in the fourth and fifth, the Tom Sox erupted with a six-run bottom of the fifth to narrow the margin to 10-9. Wynn got the scoring train started as he delivered his second hit of the night with an RBI double that brought home Sam Mummau (Jacksonville commit). Colby Wallace (East Carolina) then sent an RBI single into left field to cut the lead to 10-5. As the ‘Sox slowly closed in on the Cavaliers, Blauser stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.
To cap off an 11-pitch at-bat in which Blauser battled with six foul balls, the Jacksonville State commit blasted a no-doubt grand slam over the left-field fence. Blauser’s shot and celebratory bat flip pulled the ‘Sox within one after trailing 10-0 earlier in the ballgame.
The Cavaliers, however, responded immediately with a two-run home run from Bryce Demory in the sixth. Garrett Mason (Virginia Tech) would become the new pitcher in the seventh but couldn’t stop the bleeding, allowing another run in the eighth that put Culpeper up 13-9.
The two squads traded pairs of runs in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth as Nick Parham (East Carolina) continued his big week with a double and Dean Mihos (Coastal Carolina) drove in two with a single.
Charlottesville’s huge offensive evening wouldn’t be enough on Saturday as the Cavaliers picked up a critical 15-11 win as they fight for a wild card spot in the VBL playoffs that begin next week.
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox will travel to Covington tomorrow for the antepenultimate game of the regular season schedule. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Casey Field.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Ryan Wynn collected his team-leading tenth multi-hit game of the season.
- The Tom Sox’s 11 runs are their most scored in a loss since a 14-13, ten-inning loss on July 9, 2021.
- Cooper Blauser’s grand slam was Charlottesville’s second of the season, joining an Ethan Gibson slam in Waynesboro on June 8.
- The 15 runs allowed is the most by Charlottesville since allowing 17 to Front Royal on July 27 of last season. It is the fourth-most runs allowed by the ‘Sox all-time.
- Charlottesville lost despite scoring double-digit runs for the second time this season (11-10 at Staunton on July 7). They are now 13-2 when scoring double-digit runs, but 0-6 when their opponent scores double-digit runs.
