‘Sox Stay Alive In Valley League Playoffs By Knocking Off Generals, 8-5
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– Every game the Tom Sox have played against the Waynesboro Generals in 2025 has been memorable. Across seven games, a team has scored 10 or more runs in three games, two have been decided in extra innings, one via mercy, and now, the final matchup put an end to the Generals season, while also keeping the Tom Sox dream at repeating as Valley League champions alive.
Fueled by a dominant start on defense and a consistent hitting attack, the ‘Sox survived a late scare in the ninth and advanced to the South Division Semifinals with an 8-5 win over Waynesboro.
Brandon Eldridge(Florida Southwestern)earned the start for Thursday’s game, his first of the season. Under the brightest lights he’s faced in a Tom Sox uniform, Eldridge was surgical. He pitched six and two thirds innings, allowing only three hits and collecting five strikeouts. The only run Eldridge allowed came on a solo home run from Generals catcher Mac Dye.
“I didn’t have my best strikeout stuff like I had in previous outings, but I had a hell of a defense behind me to make plays,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge’s performance was remarkably balanced, recording a healthy number of outs in the air and on the ground, along with his five strikeouts. The fifth through ninth spots in the Generals order were held hitless, only reaching via walks and hit by pitches.
After the game, Eldridge revealed that he had not pitched longer than five innings in a game since high school, making Thursday’s performance all the more impressive. But the Tom Sox also played a remarkably clean game defensively, finishing Thursday without an error for only the ninth time in 39 games.
On the offensive side, slugging continues to be absent from the Tom Sox offense. Charlottesville put up an impressive run total through balanced offensive production, in spite of just one extra-base hit. The ‘Sox scored in four different innings, but the most fruitful was the third, where they took advantage of three Waynesboro errors, on the way to five runs. Back-to-back hits put runners on for Jackson Sirois (Maryland), who reached on an error and knocked in the first run. Then, the ‘Sox got two more runs on a walk by Patrick Niehus (Gardner-Webb)and a hit by pitch from Hudson Lutterman (Virginia Tech). Another pair crossed home on an air-mailed throw across the diamond on a ball put in play by Evan Taveras.
After Eldridge exited with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Saxon Roberts (Auburn)entered. Not only did he record a strikeout to end the jam, but he also fanned another three in the eighth.
The ‘Sox looked to be cruising to victory, but in the ninth inning, Roberts lost control. Roberts walked five of the six batters he faced in the ninth, which forced head coach Randy Tomlin to pull the plug with just one out and the bases loaded, with the score at 8-3.Caden Harris (UVA Wise)was tasked with getting the final two outs, but he only was able to get halfway. Harris got the second out after allowing an RBI single to Waynesboro leadoff man Seth Buchanan. That was all Tomlin needed from him, as he opted for one of his most reliable arms, Trever Booton (Auburn).
Booton walked the first batter he faced, bringing the game to an 8-5 score. With two outs, Waynesboro had the go-ahead run at the plate in Dye, but on a 1-2 count, he flared a ball into shallow right field and Hudson Lutterman hauled it in at a funky angle to seal the win.
UP NEXT:
The No. 3-seed ‘Sox improved to 21-18 on the season and will travel to No. 2-seed Staunton on Friday for a chance to play in the South Division final. Charlottesville is 0-3 at John Moxie Memorial Stadium this summer, but hope to turn the tide and keep their season alive. Jeremy Rose and Daniel Stein will have the call for an audio-only broadcast on the Tom Sox YouTube channel.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Brock Clayton recorded his third multi-hit game in the last four games
Brandon Eldridge’s6.2 innings are the most in a single game by a Tom Sox pitcher this season
Everyone in the Tom Sox starting lineup reached base safely
The ‘Sox now have an all-time postseason record of 30-15 and earned their 15th playoff win since the beginning of the 2022 postseason
