CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The defending Valley Baseball League champion Charlottesville Tom Sox announced their 2023 schedule on Monday, March 6. The 2023 schedule features an all-new format with four games against every opponent in the now 12-team Valley Baseball League. Charlottesville will play 22 games at Charlottesville High School and 22 on the road, traveling to every stadium in the VBL for the first time since 2019.
The Tom Sox won their third Valley League Championship in 2022, sweeping the Woodstock River Bandits and bringing home the trophy in front of their home fans. Behind a star-studded group of players and former player turned coach Ramon Garza, the Tom Sox earned their third 1-seed in five seasons and advanced to the championship despite not playing a home game in the first two rounds.
For the first time since the Tom Sox entered the league in 2015, the Valley League will not feature divisions, with each of the league’s 12 teams playing each other four times during the expanded 44-game regular season (up from 42 in previous years). No planned doubleheaders will be played, apart from two against the Winchester Royals. Home games will begin at 7 PM at Charlottesville High School, with road games beginning at either 7 or 7:30 PM depending on the opponent.
Charlottesville will begin their title defense with a tough test against the team they defeated to advance to the 2022 championship, the Waynesboro Generals, on June 1. The ‘Sox will open against their I-64 rivals for the first time in team history and will open at home for the third time in their eight seasons.
The Tom Sox and the Valley League’s newest team, the Culpeper Cavaliers, will face off for the first time on June 4 at Culpeper County High School. The Cavaliers will travel to Charlottesville for the first time on July 2. At 47 miles away, the Tom Sox are the second-closest team to the Cavaliers.
An anticipated championship rematch will take place on June 7, when the Tom Sox play their first of four against the Woodstock River Bandits. Charlottesville swept Woodstock in the 2022 championship series, winning their third title in five seasons. The two teams will again face off on June 23, July 7, and July 20.
The Tom Sox will face their now former North division rival Strasburg Express in four games, beginning on June 13 at Charlottesville High School. Together, the Tom Sox and Express have combined to win 6 of the last 8 VBL championships, with the Tom Sox defeating the Express in the championship series in both 2017 & 2019. Since Strasburg entered the league in 2013, the teams have combined for ten championship appearances.
The only two scheduled doubleheaders of the 2023 season will take place against the Winchester Royals, with the two teams matching up on July 9 in Charlottesville and July 23 in Winchester. The twin bills will each begin at a special 2 PM start time.
For the full 2023 schedule, visit tomsox.com.
