HARRISONBURG, Va. — A cool night at James Madison University’s Eagle Field on Monday set the stage for the first half of a two-part series against the Harrisonburg Turks (13-8). The Charlottesville Tom Sox (17-6) were hoping to get a win in their first game after the VBL’s All-Star Weekend, but instead fell short in a 10-4 loss.
Both offenses were quiet in the first inning before the Turks struck first with a run in the bottom of the second.
The ‘Sox responded in the third as a costly two-out error put Robbie Lavey (George Washington) on second base. Colby Wallace (East Carolina) quickly made Harrisonburg pay by smacking an RBI single to even the score, 1-1.
The Turks began to do some damage against ‘Sox starter Thomas Whelan (Davidson) — who finished with 3.0 innings pitched, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks — in the bottom of the third as a double brought two of their men home to make the score 3-1 going into the fourth.
A 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth for Charlottesville brought Harrisonburg right back up to the plate where a two-run home run by Anthony Paskell knocked Whelan out of the game and raised the tally to 5-1.
Brett Gastman (Charleston Southern) stepped in for Whelan and escaped the bottom of the fourth without further damage. But the Turks would find success against the Charleston Southern product in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of a pair of walks to tack on three more runs in the frame, increasing their lead to 8-1.
The ‘Sox offense remained quiet through the middle innings with their only threat coming in the sixth inning when Caden Ferraro (Blinn) and Ryan Wynn (Wofford) each walked, but they couldn’t put any runs on the board.
Charlottesville finally got a rally going in the top of the eighth as Jack McMullan (Liberty) roped a two-RBI double into left-center giving Ferraro and Wynn just enough time to make it home. McMullan would come around to score as well after an error by the Turks’ catcher, cutting the lead to 8-4.
In the bottom of the frame, however, Harrisonburg answered right back with two insurance runs to put the game out of reach, 10-4.
A Lavey walk and a Wallace single would be the extent of the ‘Sox rally in the top of the ninth as Harrisonburg held on for a victory in the first of the makeshift two-game series.
Up Next:
The Sox travel back to Eagle Field tomorrow for a rematch against Harrisonburg. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.
