Tom Sox Fall In Saturday Tilt At Staunton, 9-1

STAUNTON, Va. –Following a stretch where the ‘Sox won six of their last seven games dating back to a home win on June 19, Charlottesville (9-11) fell, 9-1, in a momentum-killing loss in Staunton.

The visiting ‘Sox came out of the gates hot, after both Jackson Sirois and Preston Gamster (TCU)reached base. James Nunnallee sent Gamster to second on a single before Patrick Niehus’s (Gardner Webb) first double of the day brought Gamster home to open up the scoring. Both Nunnallee and Niehus were stranded aboard the basepaths.

That was all the offense for the Tom Sox, as Braves starter Miguel Hugas shut down the lineup and sprayed one additional hit and a walk across six innings of one run baseball, complemented by eight strikeouts. Nunnallee reached via a walk in the third inning and advanced to third, marking the final time a ‘Sox player reached third base in the ballgame.

The Braves (13-9) were carried the rest of the way by Evan Koehler and Kaiden Takahashi-Trader, who each only gave up one hit as they closed out the blowout victory.

Tim Lawson (North Carolina)got the start for Charlottesville and lasted two and two-thirds innings, surrendering three runs (two earned) and racking up four strikeouts. Alex Bingler (James Madison)carried the Tom Sox through the middle innings, only allowing one run in three innings with four strikeouts to match Lawson’s total.

Luke Craytor (Virginia Tech)struggled in his inning of work. He was a strike away from ending the seventh inning without any damage, but lost his command up 0-2 to Staunton’s Jacob Lester. A few wild pitches allowed two runs to score before Lester walked and came around to score after a pair of singles.

Tristan Dietrich and Riley Roarty (VCU)collected the final four outs for the Sox, with Roarty giving up a run in the eighth.

The loss kept the Tom Sox away from reaching .500, but their recent success has promoted them to third place in the South Division, four games back from Harrisonburg for the top spot.

UP NEXT:

Charlottesville will look to spark another win streak on Sunday in a 2024 Valley League Championship Series rematch against the Purcellville Cannons. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at CHO Airport Field for First Responders Day.