PURCELLVILLE, Va. — The Charlottesville Tom Sox (29-15) fell to the Purcellville Cannons (29-15) by a 21-8 final on Wednesday night at Fireman’s Field. It was a packed house for the Cannons, who hit two grand slams and scored the most runs ever by a ‘Sox opponent.
The Tom Sox struck first and struck fast, plating five in the top of the first to silence the rowdy crowd. Ethan Gibson (Virginia Tech) worked a walk and came around to score on an RBI single from Robbie Lavey (George Washington). Caden Ferraro (Blinn) then walked and Cooper Blauser (Jacksonville State) brought in Lavey with an RBI single of his own. Sam Mummau (Jacksonville commit) joined the bash on the bases, and with two outs and the bases juiced, Dean Mihos (Coastal Carolina) stepped up to the plate.
The Chanticleer plated three on a triple that just nearly snuck out of the ballpark, erupting the Charlottesville’ contingent in the third base bleachers. At the end of the top of the first, C’Ville held a 5-0 advantage.
In the top of the second, the ‘Sox scored some more. A pair of singles from Ryan Wynn (Wofford) and Lavey set the visitors up to put themselves further out front. Ferraro delivered, driving home two with a double to give Charlottesville a 7-0 lead.
From there, the Cannons fired, and the bell tolled.
In the bottom of the second, they’d plate three runs on three hits to trim the deficit to 7-3 for the home team.
Then in the bottom of the third, the Cannons would force the C’Ville starter out of the game. Bobby Olsen (Villanova) got the start and tossed 2.1 innings, allowing five runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out three.
David Sorg crushed a game-tying grand slam off of reliever Garrett Mason (Virginia Tech), and after three frames, both sides were tied 7-7.
Mason came on to navigate through 0.2 innings, allowing two runs on just a hit and a walk, adding a strikeout.
The Cannons blanked the ‘Sox in the top of the fourth before unleashing the bats further in the bottom of the frame. The home team posted 10 runs on seven hits, including another grand slam, this time from Kaleb Freeman.
Frank Menendez (Florida) began the fourth and pitched 0.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits and striking out one. Ryan Hanks (Blinn) gave up three runs on a hit and a walk before turning the ball over to Ayden Alexander (George Washington).
Purcellville added four more in the fifth and the sixth to punctuate a 21-0 scoring run.
Alexander piloted the Tom Sox through 1.2 innings, giving up six runs on four hits and seven walks, striking out two.
Nathan Fink (Florida Southwestern) took the ball to close the game, didn’t allow a run, and recorded two outs, one of which was a strikeout.
The Tom Sox grabbed one more run in the top of the seventh, as Blauser singled and came home on an RBI from Kaegan Costa (Paul D. Camp CC). Costa’s first RBI of the season made it a 21-8 ballgame, which would hold through the top of the frame to lock up a run rule win for the Cannons.
FROM HEAD COACH RANDY TOMLIN:
“It’s a loss, it doesn’t matter the score if we lost like this, or lost 2-1. It’s a loss, and we’ve got game three tomorrow. We’ve got to carry the same energy we started the game with and just hopefully keep it going.”
UP NEXT:
The 2024 VBL Championship hangs in the balance with the Charlottesville Tom Sox hosting Purcellville on Thursday night. Game three of the three game set is slated for a 7 p.m. start from Willie T. Barnett Field.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Charlottesville did not commit an error for the fourth time in six games.
- The 15 walks issued by Tom Sox pitching are the most in team history. Ayden Alexander also let up a team-record seven walks of his own.
- Purcellville’s ten-run fourth is tied for the most runs ever let up by the ‘Sox in an inning. The Staunton Braves scored ten runs on Charlottesville in the eighth inning on June 19, 2015.
- Charlottesville lost by run-rule for the second time in team history, and first this season.
