Tom Sox Continue Homestand, Seek Sixth Straight Win Wednesday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (14-7) will face the Covington Lumberjacks (12-8) in the third game of their six-game homestand tonight at CHO Airport Field. It will be broadcast live on the Tom Sox Facebook page and Tom Sox TV. First pitch is set for 7 P.M.

It will be Dolly Rocks the Sox night, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Charlottesville and benefitting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Coverage: Viewers can head to the Tom Sox Facebook Page or Tom Sox TV to watch tonight’s game. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox Twitter account (@CvilleTomSox) will provide live updates.

Ticket Information: Admission to Tom Sox games is $5 for one person or $10 for a full carload. All prices include parking.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Covington: TBA

Charlottesville: RHP Mark Perkins – Rice (3 GS< 1-0, 13.1 IP, 1.35 ERA, 4 BB, 20 K)

LEADING OFF

• The Tom Sox will play the third game of a six-game homestand.

• The ‘Sox will play the final game of the first half of the 44-game season tonight.

• Today’s game is a make-up of the game originally scheduled for June 16 and later the 19th; both dates were postponed due to weather.

• Charlottesville and Covington will face off for the second time in four days. The ‘Sox took home a 10-9, back-and-forth win on July 4 in Covington.

• The Tom Sox are on a 5-game win streak, their longest of the season. They have scored double-digits in each of their last three games.

• The ‘Sox have won their last four home games, and five of their last six, at CHO Airport Field.

• Mark Perkins will make his team-leading fourth start of the season.

HOMEWARD BOUND

• The Tom Sox are in a packed home stretch, playing 13 home games over 16 days. The stretch started last Tuesday against New Market.

• They are currently in the middle of a 6-game homestand which will be broken Saturday with a trip to Strasburg. The stretch is concluded with a July 9 doubleheader against Winchester, a break for a road game at Harrisonburg, then two more home games before heading back on the road.

• The stretch of six-straight home games is their longest in team history.

• Three of the games are make-ups from rainouts – Tuesday’s game against New Market, today’s game against Covington, and game one of the now-doubleheader against Woodstock (July 7).

SOX ARE HOT

• The Tom Sox are on a 5-game win streak, their longest since they won their last seven games of the 2022 season.

• The ‘Sox have scored double-digit runs in their last three contests after doing so four times in their first 18 games. They had a three-game streak of 10+ runs three separate times last season, including a four-game streak in mid-June.

• The Tom Sox were averaging 3.3 runs per game at home prior to their 4-game home win streak. Over the last four home games, they are averaging 7.3 runs per game.

• Charlottesville has a win streak of at least five games for the fourth straight season.

• The ‘Sox have led after five innings in their last three wins, and have relinquished the lead only once, in the seventh inning at Covington. In the first two wins of the streak, they scored the winning run in the sixth inning (Friday vs Front Royal) and seventh inning (Thursday vs Staunton).

LEAVING THE YARD

• After homering only four times over their first 16 games, the Tom Sox have hit four home runs in their last five games.

• Two have come off the bat of home run derby champion Derek Williams, who hit a three-run homer to give the ‘Sox the lead on Thursday (against Staunton) and a solo shot to jumpstart a comeback in the ninth on Saturday (at Covington).

• Alex Bouche hit a 3-run, go-ahead home run in the fifth on Sunday (against Culpeper), which gave the ‘Sox their second and final lead of the day in an eventual 11-4 win.

• Kalvin Alexander hit his second home run of the year on Monday against Waynesboro, scoring the 12th and 13th runs of the day for the ‘Sox.

• Prior to the current streak, all four of Charlottesville’s home runs had been 2-run shots.

NO DAYS OFF

• The ‘Sox begin a stretch today of 23 games in 19 days, with no days off for the remainder of the summer.

• Eight of the 23 games are doubleheaders, two of which will be played at home this week – Friday against Woodstock and Sunday against Winchester.

AGAINST COVINGTON

• The ‘Sox and ‘Jacks will face off for the 52nd all-time meeting, tied for the second-most-played series in team history (Staunton).

• The two teams will meet in Charlottesville for the first time in exactly one year, a 16-0 Tom Sox win on July 5, 2022.

• Charlottesville has won the last six games against Covington. A win today would tie the longest streak by either team in series history (seven straight wins by Charlottesville, 7/26/16-7/21/17).

• Five of the last six wins have been decided by at least four runs, the only exception being Saturday’s game (a one-run ‘Sox win).

• Charlottesville has defeated Covington in the first round of the playoffs in two of the last three seasons (2019 & 2022). Last season, the Tom Sox swept the Lumberjacks in a doubleheader at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg in a series that was heavily delayed due to rain.

KYLE’S ON FIRE

• Since not starting the June 14 game at Waynesboro (his first game on the bench this season), Kyle Edwards is batting .394 with seven runs, ten RBI, four doubles, a home run, and ten stolen bases.

• Over the nine games since, five have been multi-hit games. He has reached base in seven of the nine games.

• He has stolen multiple bases in four of the nine games.

• Edwards was named to the VBL All-Star team and prospect showcase team, the lone Tom Sox player named to both. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored in the All-Star game.

SPEEDY ‘SOX

• The Tom Sox have stolen 91 bases in their first 21 games, the most over that span in franchise history.

• The 2023 team has sole possession of second place in team history in single-season stolen bases. They now only trail the 2021 team, who stole 110 in 2021:

  	SB	GAMES
  2021	110	42
  2023	91	21
  2017	66	49
  2022	66	48
  2018	47	58
  2016	43	42
  2015	40	43
  2019	34	50

• The 2023 ‘Sox now own the top three stolen base days in team history, stealing nine in game two against Covington, ten on June 9 at Harrisonburg, and eight on June 18 (tied with one other).

MOST STOLEN BASES – SINGLE GAME

• Josh Tate tied the individual single-game record with four steals at Harrisonburg, tying a record that had not been touched in exactly eight years.

• This season, the ‘Sox have six games with 6+ stolen bases after having only six such games in their first seven seasons (322 games).

• The ‘Sox are currently on pace for 189 stolen bases on the year.

• The Tom Sox have three of the league’s top seven base stealers.

• They were not caught stealing over their first seven games, the longest streak without being caught to begin a season in team history.

SHUTDOWN ARMS

• The Tom Sox lead the Valley League in virtually every major pitching stat with a 3.63 ERA, .204 opponent average, 4.1 BB/9, 10.9 K/9, and a 2.7 strikeout to walk ratio.

• ‘Sox pitchers have allowed four or fewer runs in 14 of 21 games. They have not allowed double-digit runs in a game this season.

• The Tom Sox have not allowed more than eight runs at home this season, and have limited their opponents to four or fewer runs in nine of 11 home games. 

• Three active ‘Sox pitchers have tossed at least eight innings without allowing a run – Mike Eggert, Ryan Lynch, and Jordan Little.

• Eight total pitchers have allowed one or no runs this season.

SAME FACES, NEW PLACES

• 14 total Tom Sox players (active and inactive) entered the season with the intent to transfer (either in the transfer portal or transferring from JUCO), with five of them finding destinations as of Tuesday night (July 4).

• The ‘Sox who have publicly committed to new schools include Josh Tate (Georgia Southern), Nathan Fink (Florida Southwestern JC), Jordan Little (Virginia Tech), David Utagawa (UC Irvine), and Henry Hardie (High Point).

• A total of 23 players on this season’s overall roster have either transferred or are currently in the transfer portal.

• Editor’s note: All players who are listed in the transfer portal without a final destination are either listed in the D1Baseball Transfer Tracker or have graduated from their junior college/4-year college.

SCOUTING COVINGTON

• The Lumberjacks sit third in the VBL with a 12-8 overall record. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and sit 1.5 games behind Charlottesville and 2.5 out of first place.

• The ‘Jacks are second in the league in batting average (.287) and fourth in ERA (4.61).

• Covington’s .972 fielding percentage leads the league.

• The Lumberjacks have two of the league’s top six hitters average-wise in Michael Pavelchak (.397) and Greg Melo (.380).

• Jacob Heath leads Covington on the mound with a 2.76 ERA, one of two league-eligible pitchers.