Charlottesville Begins Valley League Championship Series In Strasburg

Charlottesville Begins Valley League Championship Series In Strasburg

Game Notes
July 28, 2025•6 min read

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The 2025 Valley League Championship Series begins Monday night in Strasburg as the Tom Sox (23-18) and Express (28-11) battle in game one.

Coverage: First pitch is set for 7 p.m. from First Bank Park. Viewers can head to theTom Sox YouTube channel for an audio-only broadcast with Luke Stefanisko and Landon Weaver calling the action. You can find the video stream on Strasburg’s Facebook page or the Express YouTube channel.A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox X account (@CvilleTomSox) will provide live updates.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Strasburg:RHP Josh Ossiander

Charlottesville:RHP Lucas Cash

BACK IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Charlottesville has their sights set on winning a second straight Valley League title, something that has never been done in Tom Sox history

  • With Sunday’s win over Culpeper, the Tom Sox advanced to their fourth straight Valley League Championship Series and their seventh in the last eight seasons

  • Charlottesville’s seven championship appearances and four titles since 2017 are both the most in the Valley League over that span

  • Charlottesville has only missed the playoffs one time in its history (2016), and holds a 32-15 record in the postseason

POSTSEASON SUCCESS

  • In their first round matchup against Waynesboro on Thursday, the ‘Sox used a stellar start from Brandon Eldridge and a five-run third inning to take down the Generals, 8-5

  • On Saturday in the South Division Semifinals against Staunton, Charlottesville came back from a 6-3 deficit by scoring seven unanswered runs

  • Patrick Niehus (Gardner-Webb)and Hudson Lutterman (Virginia Tech)each drove in a run in the seventh, before the ‘Sox strung together six straight singles to begin the eighth which sparked a four-run inning

  • Ian White Jr. (Indiana)and Niko Janssens (College of Central Florida)both shoved out of the bullpen, combining for six innings and only two runs allowed

  • In the South Division Championship against Culpeper, Charlottesville faced an early three-run deficit before storming back to tie the game in the fifth

  • Ryan Pugh (Delaware), Riley Roarty (Virginia Commonwealth),and Trevor Booton (Auburn)kept the ‘Sox in the game with stellar relief outings, but their season was hanging in the balance in the ninth

  • Lutterman laced an RBI single to tie the game at four, a score that held until the bottom of the twelfth

  • Jackson Sirois (Maryland)was the hero for the Tom Sox in extras as he tapped an RBI single to the left side of the infield, sending Charlottesville to its fourth straight Valley League Championship Series

SWINGING A HOT BAT

  • Jackson Siroishas taken over the team lead among qualified players with a .280 AVG

  • In the playoffs, Sirois is posting a .462 AVG, and in the last 10 games, he’s hitting for a .364 AVG

  • Against Staunton on Saturday, Sirois set the Tom Sox season-high with four hits, and reached base five times

  • Brock Claytonis hitting his stride at the right time, posting a .316 AVG in the last five games

  • Kyle Langley (James Madison)his hitting .313 in the postseason

DOMINANT PITCHING

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

  • Tom Sox starters finished the regular season with a 4.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts across 109.2 innings, while opposing hitters posted just a .215 AVG against them

  • Tim Lawson (North Carolina)leads the Tom Sox in innings pitched (24.2), starts (9), and strikeouts (37)

  • In the last 10 games, including the playoffs, the ‘Sox staff has thrown 89.0 innings and hold a 4.15 ERA in that stretch, while recording 94 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .191 AVG

SCOUTING THE EXPRESS

  • Strasburg finished the regular season with the best record in the Valley League at 26-11

  • The Express have won their last nine games, including an 11-0 win over Winchester in the North Division Semifinals, and an 8-7 win over Purcellville in the North Division Championship

  • Landon Beaver has been one of the best players in the Valley League this summer

  • Beaver is hitting .343 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI in 30 games

  • In the regular season, Strasburg hit for a .294 AVG, the best mark in the Valley League, and hit a league-best 57 home runs as well

  • The Express won both regular season matchups by a combined score of 29-13

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 276 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)

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