COVINGTON, Va. — A windy evening at Casey Field painted the picture for the Charlottesville Tom Sox’s (10-3) first road trip to Covington and their second matchup of the season with the Lumberjacks (5-7).
After the first matchup between Charlottesville and Covington was postponed back on June 5th, the two South Division rivals finally squared off on June 11th in Charlottesville where the Tom Sox were victorious 10-6.
On Sunday night, the ‘Sox bats were booming in the top half of the first. Sam Mummau (Florida) started the party off with a lead-off single before his middle-infield counterpart Ryan Wynn (Wofford) smacked a two-run home run over the right-center-field wall, the first of his collegiate career, giving the Tom Sox a quick 2-0 lead.
“I got a good pitch to hit early in the game, and I’m glad I helped us get a win,” said Wynn, who also touched on the ‘Sox momentum saying, “I think we gotta keep going on this train and keep trying to ride it as long as we can.”
The party kept on going after a walk to Tommy Roldan (Virginia) in the three spot as Colby Wallace (East Carolina) blasted a double off the top of the right-centerfield wall, scoring Roldan all the way from first and extending the ‘Sox early advantage to 3-0.
James Hays (Georgia) took the bump for Charlottesville, making his first start since the June 9th loss at home to Harrisonburg. Hays faced early adversity, walking the first batter then giving up a single to Kaleb Henry to put runners on the corners with no outs. He continued by digging deep, though, striking out the next three batters to retire the heart of the Lumberjacks’ order and escape the first-inning jam.
After the early Tom Sox ambush, Covington starter Garrett Darner turned up on the mound, retiring six of the next seven Charlottesville hitters he faced to keep the score at 3-0.
Hays made quick work of the bottom of the second, sitting Covington down 1-2-3 while accumulating his 4th strikeout. But with two outs in the bottom of the third, the Lumberjacks started to get to the ‘Sox starter. Hays surrendered an RBI single to Jackson Toberman that scored Fabian Amaro to put the Lumberjacks on the board before four and five hitters Chenar Brown and Jose Alfonso hit back-to-back RBI doubles, leveling the game up at three in the third inning.
After three-and-a-third innings pitched by Darner, Covington turned the ball over to right-handed pitcher Ryan Peterson to keep things close in the upper half of the fourth. Peterson walked the first batter he faced, Nick Parham (East Carolina), setting things up for another Mummau single that put runners on the corners. Wynn stepped up next and beat out an infield hit to the second baseman, plating Parham and making it 4-3 ‘Sox.
In relief of Hays in the bottom half of the fourth was Ethan Sutton (Georgia) who looked to keep things close. After a lead-off walk and one out, the Lumberjacks greeted him with an RBI double off the bat of Amaro that scored Bryan Melo to even things back up at four.
Sutton escaped further damage, getting lead-off hitter Spencer Williams to pop out to Mummau at shortstop and striking out Kaleb Henry to keep it tied up.
In the top of the sixth, Charlottesville started to make noise again after Covington’s pitching change to Cesar Valera. After back-to-back walks to Cale Stricklin (Auburn) and Mummau, Wynn singled again for his third hit of the night, loading the bases up. But Valera was able to work out of the altercation, getting Roldan to strike out swinging and Wallce to fly out to right field.
Sutton was lights out after allowing a run in the fourth inning, putting up zeros all across the board. He went on to retire eleven of his next thirteen batters faced, striking out four while also retiring seven straight Lumberjacks in that stretch.
After a lead-off double in the bottom of the eighth, Sutton was replaced by Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State) who came in to lock it down for Randy Tomlin’s pitching staff.
Powell induced a ground ball to himself, throwing it over to Ryan Wynn at first, that moved the go-ahead run to third with one out. Powell went on to punch out Thomas Marsala and Melo to get out of the jam, successfully walking the tightrope to send the game to the ninth still tied at four.
The Tom Sox played some small-ball in the ninth as Johnnie Lopez (Seminole State) laid down a one-out bunt single before a Wiley infield single put two men on.
The pair of runners executed a double steal, setting up a huge chance for the green and blue to strike for their first lead since the fourth inning. With two strikes and two outs, Parham broke the deadlock with a go-ahead two-RBI single to plate Lopez and Wiley and give the ‘Sox a 6-4 lead.
“I was trying to pick up the team and get the lead right there so we could get the win,” said Parham.
Powell, coming back out to seal the deal, got the first batter to ground out before giving up a walk. The righty battled, striking out the next hitter he faced before inducing a long final out that Lopez caught on the warning track, sealing the Tom Sox 6-4 victory.
Charlottesville is now 2-0 on the season against Covington after a pair of close games that each came down to the wire.
UP NEXT:
The Charlottesville Tom Sox are back in action on Tuesday night at Charlottesville High School for a rematch with the Lumberjacks. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on Tom Stock night.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Parham’s two-run single was his first hit in a Tom Sox uniform.
- Charlottesville has won their last nine games competed against Covington. (Their final meeting last season, scheduled for June 19, was canceled and went down as a Tom Sox forfeit and subsequent loss).
- Charlottesville is the first Valley League team to ten wins this season.
- Johnnie Lopez extended his on-base streak to 12 games, the longest on the team.
- Charlottesville scored a first-inning run for the ninth time this season, and third-straight game.
