STAUNTON, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (3-6) completed the mini comeback, but were unable to fully overturn the Staunton Braves’ (6-4) one run lead.
The Tom Sox rallied back from 4-0 down early in the third inning to take a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the 5th. Just as quickly as Charlottesville took the lead, it was lost, and Staunton went on to win, 6-5.
Charlottesville had their chances early. With two outs on the board in the top of the first, James Nunnallee (Virginia) rounded third and was heading home before being tagged out by the slimmest of margins to keep the Tom Sox scoreless.
Early defensive struggles plagued the ‘Sox yet again as Staunton’s LT Cockrill hit a two-run double to put the Braves up 3-0 in the second. That came after Cockrill got the scoring started with a solo homer off of Alex Bingler (James Madison) in the first.
In the top of the third, Hudson Lutterman (Virginia Tech) advanced to second after a Nunnallee single and it seemed like the ‘Sox were primed to put runs on the board. The trend of leaving runners stranded kept pace however, and Charlottesville went into the bottom of the 3rd still searching for a run.
Bingler started the third strong by securing himself a strikeout to put two outs on the board.
The Tom Sox wouldn’t escape that inning without letting in another run though, putting the deficit at four.
The top of the fourth is where the fun began for Charlottesville. An RBI single from Preston Gamster (Texas Christian) was enough to score Cole Cleveland (Florida International). The following at-bat featured Adonys Velez (Florida International) obliterating a ball over the left centerfield wall, bringing the ‘Sox within two.
The script flipped in the bottom of the fourth as it was the Braves who went scoreless, giving the Tom Sox an opening to do more damage offensively.
The leadoff man Kyle Langley (James Madison) started the fifth with a standup double off of his teammate at JMU, Griffin Madden. Lutterman brought Langley home with an RBI single, cutting the Braves’ lead to just one.
During the next at-bat, Lutterman advanced to second via a wild pitch, and then to third by way of a passed ball. As if Lutterman’s luck couldn’t be any better, another wild pitch was thrown. This allowed the Hokie to score the tying run with zero outs to Charlottesville’s name.
All of this chaos meant that Walker Buchanan (Virginia) represented the leading run. After a ball got by the Braves’ catcher, Buchanan waltzed home to give the Tom Sox a 5-4 lead.
The lead was short-lived though, as Jacob Lester blasted a two-run shot off of Bradley Link (Pensacola State College) to put the Braves on top, 6-5.
From that point on, not much happened in the ball game. The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings were scoreless for both sides.
In the top of the ninth, Charlottesville had a chance to extend the game as Hudson Lutterman (Virginia Tech) picked up a single with one out on the board.
The promise of more runs was cut short as the remaining ‘Sox struck out, giving the victory to the Braves.
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox (3-6) will be back at CHO Airport Field on Thursday night as they host the Strasburg Express (6-4) at 7:00 p.m. This game will be streamed live on the Tom Sox YouTube channel and Facebook page.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This is the Tom Sox third loss of the season by two runs or less
- Adonys Velez’s solo home run in the top of the fourth was the first home run hit by the ‘Sox this season on the road
- With 11 hits, Charlottesville has reached double digits in the hits department in four games this season.
- After having both his hitting and on base streaks snapped on Tuesday vs. Culpeper, Hudson Lutterman reached base four times, a game-high for both sides
- With two scoreless innings of work, Dawson Newman (Coastal Carolina) now has a six-inning scoreless streak to begin his Tom Sox career
- The season series between Charlottesville and Staunton is now split, 1-1
