WAYNESBORO, VA. — The Charlottesville Tom Sox (5-1) extended their winning streak to five games on Saturday night after scoring 11 runs through the first three innings on their way to defeating the Waynesboro Generals (3-4) 16-1 via the run rule in seven innings. Ethan Gibson (Virginia Tech) hit the team’s first grand slam of the year while Thomas Roldan (Virginia) got the win in his pitching debut.
In the top of the first, Johnnie Lopez (Seminole State) walked before stealing second to put the team’s first base runner in scoring position. Cade Belyeu (Auburn) rocked one into the right-center gap that brought the runner home before scoring himself on a Robbie Lavey (George Washington) groundout to first base.
Roldan got the nod on the mound for the Tom Sox and rewarded the team with a quick one-two-three inning, recording two strikeouts along the way.
Charlottesville kept things going in the second by putting two more on the board as Cale Stricklin (Auburn) recorded his sixth and seventh RBIs of the season with a single to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
Waynesboro responded with their only run of the ballgame in the bottom of the second thanks to a Jayson Willers RBI single that scored Jacob Payne to erase their donut in the stat sheet.
The ‘Sox broke the game wide open in a marathon third inning during which they had three hits, drew six walks, and scored seven runs. James Taussig (Texas San Antonio) and Gavin Miller (Houston) each singled in the inning, but the biggest hit of the evening came when Gibson ripped one over the left field wall with the bases juiced for Charlottesville’s first grand slam of the summer.
With a commanding 11-1 lead, Trevor Booton (Auburn) went to work after relieving Roldan in the third. The rising sophomore attacked the zone, mowing down the Generals in three hitless innings while striking out two.
In the top of the sixth inning, the road squad added a few more insurance runs. Taussig drove in the first run after Belyeu walked and Jack McMullan (Liberty) doubled before Matthew Sicoli (Emory) won a long battle at the plate to draw a bases-loaded walk and hand Charlottesville an 11-run lead.
Will Banks (Davidson) entered the game in the bottom of sixth before the bats got going again in the seventh. Two walks and four hits from the middle of the lineup resulted in a three-run inning that put the game to rest.
The Tom Sox slugged their way to a 16-1 run-rule victory, maintaining their position atop the South Division standings.
Up Next
The Tom Sox moved to 5-1 on Saturday and will face Harrisonburg for Little League Day on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Charlottesville High School.
Additional Notes
- Over their last four games, the Tom Sox are outscoring opponents 52-4.
- Saturday was the third run-rule victory of the season for the Tom Sox in just six games.
- Ethan Gibson hit the team’s first grand slam of the season.
- The bullpen has held its opponents to three runs or fewer in each game across its five-game win streak.
