‘Sox End Regular Season With 5-3 Loss To Cavaliers
CULPEPER, Va.– In a continuation of Monday’s loss to Staunton, the Tom Sox hitting faltered in the regular season finale, losing to Culpeper, 5-3.
The Tom Sox finish the 2025 regular season with a 20-18 record, and will look to refocus before its playoff matchup with Waynesboro on Thursday.
Tuesday’s game versus the Cavaliers was originally scheduled to be the season opener on May 30, but multiple postponements forced the game to be the finale. Ian White (Indiana) got the start, his first of the season, and he only lasted the first inning. While he didn’t allow a hit, three walks and a hit batter quickly gave White trouble. The game’s first run came across on a nifty steal of home by the Cavaliers, when Blagen Prado distracted ‘Sox catcher Brock Clayton who threw down to second, which allowed Donovan Mitchell to score from third.
The next five innings went by without any more runs for either team, as Tom Sox hitters flailed against Culpeper starter Benjy Tucker. Charlottesville went down in order four times in the first five innings, but a pseudo-bullpen game from the ‘Sox pitching staff kept the score close.
After White departed the game, Lane Duff and Niko Janssens (College of Central Florida)pitched a combined three scoreless innings without surrendering a hit.
The Tom Sox finally got on the board courtesy of a guy who was in desperate need of an extra-base hit. Clayton was in the midst of a frustrating game, as the Cavaliers had already stolen seven bases off him through the first six innings. Entering his seventh inning at-bat, Clayton had only three extra-base hits in 43 at-bats. Clayton got his fourth on a moonshot to right center field that tied the game, 1-1.
Clayton continued his return to form in the eighth, knocking another run on an RBI single. Lucas Cash (Bridgewater College), who has previously pitched for the ‘Sox in 2022 and 2023, entered the game in the fifth inning.
Cash delivered an admirable performance for his first outing, lasting nearly four innings and avoiding walks entirely. His fatal flaw came in the form of two long home runs from Culpeper, which proved to be the nail in the coffin on Tuesday.
While on the surface, five runs shouldn’t be a death sentence for a team that scored 14 runs just two days prior. But the ‘Sox only mustered four hits, two each from Jackson Sirois (Maryland)and Clayton. Anderson French (Virginia Tech)also set a Tom Sox record of three double plays grounded into, rendering a trio of walks from Tanner Schaedel (Old Dominion)essentially meaningless.
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On the bright side, Tuesday’s game itself was also meaningless, as the playoff matchups in the South Division were already set following the Tom Sox loss to Staunton on Monday. The ‘Sox will have to hope the bats return to form on Thursday when they host the Generals at CHO Airport Field. The game can be viewed on YouTube and Facebook, featuring Luke Stefanisko and Landon Weaver on the call.
