Battle For Second Place In South Division Continues In Staunton

Battle For Second Place In South Division Continues In Staunton

Game Notes| 2025
July 21, 2025•5 min read

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –With just three days remaining in the regular season, a first round bye in the Valley League Playoffs hangs in the balance. Tonight, the Tom Sox (20-16) head to Staunton (22-16) to try and reclaim second place in the South Division standings.

Coverage: First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. from John Moxie Memorial Stadium. Viewers can head to the Braves YouTube channel to watch tonight’s game. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox X account (@CvilleTomSox) will provide live updates.

Ticket Information: General admission to all Braves home games is $7.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Staunton: TBA

Charlottesville: LHP Tim Lawson (North Carolina)

GAME OF THE YEAR

  • Charlottesville and Staunton meet tonight in a game that has major implications on who will end up with a first round bye in the Valley League Playoffs, which begin on Thursday

  • The top two teams in each division earn first round byes, and will have a home game for the division semifinals on Friday

  • Staunton currently holds a one-game lead over Charlottesville for second place, and the head-to-head tiebreaker, 3-2

  • A win for the ‘Sox means they would move into second place because of winning percentage, and that they would control their own destiny for second place in the final two games

SUNDAY FUNDAY

  • Sunday’s run-rule win over Waynesboro featured an offensive explosion for the Tom Sox

  • Evan Taveras led the charge with two home runs, his first homers of the season

  • Taveras’ first homer capped off a six-run first inning for the ‘Sox, which was the seventh time this season that Charlottesville has scored five or more runs in an inning

  • Patrick Niehus (Gardner-Webb)hit his third homer of the season, which puts him in a tie for the team lead with Tanner Schaedel (Old Dominion)

  • Kyle Langley (James Madison) and Brock Clayton each had multi-hit games, with Clayton driving in two runs on his game-winning single in the seventh

  • While the offense grabbed a lot of attention, Riley Roarty (Virginia Commonwealth) and Alex Bingler (James Madison)both shined on the mound, holding the Generals to three earned runs on six hits while striking out nine

IMMEDIATE IMPACTS

  • Anderson French (Virginia Tech)and Will Jennewein (Sewanee)have each only played in a handful of games for the Tom Sox, but are both having great starts to their time in Charlottesville

  • French is 3-9 with two RBI and four walks, while Jennewein is 4-12 with three RBI, seven walks, and three stolen bases

  • The two combined for three RBI in Charlottesville’s 14-4 win over Waynesboro on Sunday

STARTING PITCHING DOMINANCE

  • Charlottesville’s starting pitchers have provided solid outings all season long

  • The 10 Tom Sox starters this summer have a 4.40 ERA and 124 strikeouts across 104.1 innings, while opposing hitters are posting just a .217 AVG against them

  • Tim Lawson (North Carolina)and JT Gibson (Kennesaw State)have each thrown 20.1 innings as starters, but Lawson has made the most starts (8)

SCOUTING THE BRAVES

  • Staunton has won its last three games, which included an 8-2 win in Covington last night

  • Every player in the Braves lineup reached base in the victory, and the trio of pitchers Staunton used limited the Lumberjacks to one earned run on five hits

  • Mikey Urbaniak leads the Staunton offense with a .397 AVG, while Wyatt Campbell leads the team and is second in the Valley League with 10 homers

  • The Braves are top five in the Valley League in AVG (.253) and ERA (4.58)

  • This is the sixth and final meeting of the regular season between the two teams, and the season series is in Staunton’s favor, 3-2

  • In the last meeting on July 3, the Braves jumped out to a 5-0 lead and used that momentum to take down the ‘Sox, 8-4

  • Charlottesville leads the all-time series, 40-28

10TH SEASON OF TOM SOX BASEBALL

  • 2025 marks the tenth season of Charlottesville Tom Sox baseball

  • Since 2015, the team’s inaugural season, the ‘Sox have won four Valley League Championships, appeared in the championship series six times, and been a step in over 30 professional players journeys

  • Over the last decade, the Tom Sox have won 273 games, and have a winning percentage of .600

COACHES CORNER

  • Randy Tomlin, the reigning VBL South Division Coach of the Year, returns to Charlottesville for his second season at the helm of the Tom Sox

  • Tomlin became the third Tom Sox head coach to earn Coach of the Year honors, joining Corey Hunt (2017) and Kory Koehler (2021)

  • Tomlin led the ‘Sox to a 30-15 overall record in his first season, a league-best 26-13 regular season record, and the fourth Valley Baseball League Championship in team history

  • Tomlin is also the current head coach at Liberty Christian Academy

  • Under Tomlin, the Tom Sox finished top three in the VBL in batting average, runs scored, ERA and WHIP during the regular season

  • Randy’s son, Coy Tomlin, also returns for his second season as an assistant coach, where he will continue to bring infectious energy to the ballpark each night

  • Assistant coaches Thomas Abell, Jim Darin, Joey Davis (Hitting), and Chris Glaize (Pitching) round out the 2025 staff. Darin, previously on Corey Hunt’s staff from 2017-2019, rejoins the staff after three trips to the Valley League Championship

  • Davis, the hitting coach, a two-time World Series champion, spent 10 years as a major league scout for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves, and has previously coached at Berry College, St. Leo College, Western Kentucky, as well as both the Blue Jays and Phillies organizations

  • Glaize, the pitching coach, is currently the head coach at Brookville High School in Lynchburg, VA, and has previously served as an assistant coach for the Purcellville Cannons and Winchester Royals

A WINNING MODEL

  • The Tom Sox have been the Valley’s most successful team since winning their first title in 2017

  • The ‘Sox have appeared in all but one championship series since ‘17 (2021) and have won the league title in four of the last seven seasons

  • Prior to the start of the season, Charlottesville’s 190-99 record since the start of the 2017 season is the best in the VBL

  • Charlottesville’s six championship appearances and four titles since 2017 are both the most in the VBL over that span

  • The Tom Sox have won the league title in alternating seasons since 2017 (‘17, ‘19, ‘22 [2020 season cancelled], ‘24)

Back to Blog