CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (11-6) will face the Strasburg Express (13-5) in a doubleheader at Charlottesville High School. It will be broadcast live on the Tom Sox Facebook page and Tom Sox TV. First pitch for the first game is set for 5 P.M., with the second game set to start 30 minutes after the first.
Coverage: Viewers can head to the Tom Sox Facebook Page or Tom Sox TV to watch tonight’s games. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox Twitter account (@CvilleTomSoxVBL) will provide live updates.
Ticket Information: Admission to all Tom Sox games in 2021 is free, courtesy of Carter Bank & Trust. Parking is available at a first-come, first-served basis in the CHS upper, lower, and student lots.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Strasburg (Game 1): LHP Donovan Burke – James Madison (2-1, 2.51 ERA, 14.1 IP, 4 BB, 16 K)
Strasburg (Game 2): RHP Landon Harper – Southern Miss (2-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 BB, 13 K)
Charlottesville (Game 1): RHP Dillon Janac – Rice (0-1, 7.20 ERA, 10.0 IP, 11 BB, 10 K)
Charlottesville (Game 2): TBD
LEADING OFF
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The Tom Sox and Express will meet tonight in two 7-inning games.
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Tonight’s meetings will be the first since the Tom Sox defeated the Express 4-1 in 2019 to win their 2nd VBL Championship.
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Game 1 will be Charlottesville’s 250th as a VBL team.
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The ‘Sox faltered at home Friday, falling to Staunton 10-4.
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Charlottesville’s 3.51 ERA ranks 3rd in the VBL and its .189 opponent BA lead the VBL.
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After going 7-1 in their first 8 games, the ‘Sox are 4-5 in their last 9.
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Tonight’s meetings will be the third & fourth all-time between the Tom Sox and Express on June 27. They have split the first 2.
SERIES vs STRASBURG
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The recent history of this series has been dominated by the postseason, as it has determined the VBL Champion in 2 of the last 3 seasons.
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The Tom Sox came away as champions in both of those seasons (2017 & 2019), winning a 2-1 series in 2017 before sweeping Strasburg in 2019.
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The ‘Sox are 4-1 in their last 5 meetings against the Express at home, with the last loss coming on June 27 of 2019.
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One of the teams has scored 8 runs in 4 of the last 5 meetings. Charlottesville had 2-straight 8-5 losses in 2019 before winning the next 3.
LAST TIME OUT
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The Braves defeated the Tom Sox 10-4 on Friday night, Staunton’s 2nd-straight win over Charlottesville.
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The ‘Sox did not score a run until the 7th inning.
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Staunton’s pitching staff combined to allow 5 hits, 1 earned run, and 6 walks on the night.
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Tom Sox fielders made 5 errors for the second-straight meeting against the Braves.
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Makenzie Pate reached base 4 times for Charlottesville, 3 of those on walks.
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Tom Sox pitching struck out double-digit batters for the 10th time in 16 games this season.
TEAM TRENDS
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The ‘Sox offense has scored 6.7 runs/game in wins and 2.2 in losses. They also have double the amount of walks per game in wins.
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11 of Charlottesville’s 17 games have been decided by 3 or more runs.
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Two of the three 1-run games have been walk-off wins.
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8 players have reached base in 5+ straight games at some point this season. Gehrig Ebel leads the team with an active 11-game streak.
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Tom Sox batters are batting .220 with runners on base and .261 with runners in scoring position
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The Tom Sox have stolen 1 or fewer bases in 4 of their last 6 games. They had only 2 such games entering that stretch.
STRIKEOUT RECORDS
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Charlottesville pitchers have struck out 173 batters in their first 17 games, the 2nd-most in team history (175, 2018).
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9 players bring in double-digit strikeouts with Brady Kirtner (16) leading the way.
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The team’s 173 strikeouts are 5th in the VBL.
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‘Sox pitching has six games with 13+ K’s, and has struck out double-digit batters in 10 games this season.
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They have struck out 85 batters over their last 8 games.
