The Best Staff In The Valley

By: Ben Rekosh

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Simply put, pitchers are in the business of preventing the other team from scoring runs. No staff in the 2026 Valley Baseball League season did that better than the Charlottesville Tom Sox.

The 4.23 earned run average posted by Charlottesville was the best among all 12 teams in the league. Through the playoffs, the team’s era rose to a figure of 2.65.

“I really felt like that was a big achievement for all the pitchers,” according to Will Pearson, Tom Sox Pitching Coach.

Pearson was likely the person that was the proudest of this milestone. Pitching is about a group coming together and doing whatever it takes to win, but before the summer and throughout the grind of the season he kept mentioning this goal.

The league statistics was a frequently visited website for him, and he always made sure to keep a keen eye on which team was atop the pitching category.

Finishing with the league’s top ERA was especially impressive given Charlottesville’s rough first week-and-a-half of the season. Several position players were forced onto the mound during the worst start in franchise history, making Pearson especially pleased with how the staff recovered.

For the pitchers, this was a goal that came naturally to each individual. The competitive nature fueled the steadiness of the staff, according to two time VBL all-star Evan Alwine. He said that the roster was full of players that clearly cared about the game, and each person came together to the best of their abilities in trying to win a baseball game.

“We didn't really think about being the best staff in the league,” Alwine said. “It kind of just happened because that's the kind of pitchers we had on the staff.”

As a franchise, the Tom Sox set the record for number of players on the All-VBL teams in a season with eight; four of those names were pitchers. The dominant Brandon Dahlman was chosen to the first team. Lucas Cash and Alwine were picked as second team all-league starters, and Asher Sabom’s improvement over the season landed him on the second team as a reliever.

“I always want to strive to be the best in whatever it is that I do and whatever the staff I'm with does,” Pearson said.

The collective effort progressed throughout the summer, yet there was never a mention of the achievement from Pearson to the pitching staff.

Coincidentally, the last time that Charlottesville’s pitching topped the league rankings was in 2024 – when Pearson was a player for the Tom Sox. The righty delivered a 2.45 ERA over 12 relief appearances, with the team’s ERA on the season being 4.20.

A return to Charlottesville after winning the 2024 VBL championship was a unique challenge and a learning experience for the young coach. This summer was an opportunity for Pearson to be a sponge under Randy Tomlin, and grow as much as possible every day.

It took time for him to break out of his shell and know who he was as a pitching coach, but having a younger voice was beneficial to the entire roster.

As described by Alwine, Pearson is “someone you want to play for.”

Give as much of the credit to the coaching staff as you want, but Pearson leaves it up to his players that competed on the mound throughout the 44 game regular season & playoff run.

“Being able to finish with the best team ERA in the league was really just a testament to the hard work put in by all the pitchers on the staff and their improvement over the year.”