Charlottesville’s First Round Bye Hopes End After 3-1 Loss To Staunton

STAUNTON, Va. –The Charlottesville Tom Sox (20-17) never found a rhythm in Monday night’s 3-1 loss to the Staunton Braves (23-16), which ends their hopes of earning a bye in the Valley League Playoffs.

Starting pitcher Tim Lawson (North Carolina) and Ryan Pugh turned in solid pitching performances to keep the two sides close before the Braves pulled away late. The Tom Sox offense only turned in one run on three hits.

The first inning was a solid start for Lawson, as he recorded a strike ’em out, throw ‘em out double play in tandem with catcher Anderson French (Virginia Tech) to end the inning.

French recorded the first hit of the ballgame in the second inning, but would be stranded there. Lawson faced some trouble in the second, allowing a hit and a walk, but managed to tighten up and keep Staunton off the board.

Both sides went down 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings, giving way to the fifth.

The Braves stung Lawson for his only run of the game with a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the inning. Lawson was lifted after allowing two more pieces of hard contact, to which Pugh entered and managed to avoid any further damage to the 1-0 score.

Lee Sowers (North Carolina)doubled in the sixth, putting himself in prime position to cross the plate. The Braves pitching stifled the ‘Sox, and a strikeout ended the inning with Sowers at third base.

The ‘Sox put another zero on the scoreboard in the seventh, and then turned to Saxon Roberts (Auburn),who allowed a single but induced a double play to get out of the inning.

After another fruitless half inning, Charlottesville encountered some trouble when Roberts allowed two baserunners. Trevor Booton (Auburn)entered but allowed two runs to cross with a single and an errant pickoff attempt adding to the ‘Sox woes.

In the ninth, Perry Hargett (North Carolina)worked a walk but was retired via a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kyle Langley (James Madison). After a flyout for the second out, Brock Clayton walked, allowing Patrick Niehus (Gardner-Webb)to step up and bring home the lone run of the game for the Tom Sox on an RBI single.

With the loss, Charlottesville is now locked in as the third seed in the South Division, and will host a first round playoff game on Thursday at CHO Airport Field.

UP NEXT:

The ‘Sox will be on the road tomorrow to face the Culpeper Cavaliers at Culpeper County High School. First pitch is set for 7 p.m., and we will be providing an audio-only broadcast with Jeremy Rose and Landon Weaver calling the action.