CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – On Saturday night, the Charlottesville Tom Sox kicked off their 2021 season with a bang, defeating the Covington Lumberjacks 9-5 at Charlottesville High School in newly named Crutchfield Park. This was the first time the Tom Sox took the field in 668 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the first time since they won the 2019 VBL Championship.
The first sign of action came from the Lumberjacks after bringing home a quick run from Victor Castillo (FAU) after Tom Sox catcher Ryan Dyal (Auburn) threw a passed ball over third base in the top of the first inning, sending Castillo home. The Tom Sox were unable to match this energy while they had bases loaded, with the first inning ending 1-0.
The Tom Sox responded at the top of the third inning when Matt Corpas (Florida Southwestern) hit a single to bring in the first run for the ‘Sox, tying the game 1-1. Shortly after though during the top of the fourth inning, Lumberjack Christian Hall (UT Martin) had a long hit single, bringing in two runs from Nathan Becker (Rice) and Jason Roberts (West Florida) for the Lumberjacks to take the lead 3-1.
The tide shifted in the Sox’s favor in the second half of the game as the Lumberjacks began switching pitchers, starting with the transition of starting pitcher Hunter Viets (Auburn Montgomery) to Roger Ceballos (Valdosta State). Shortly after, Trevor Candelaria (Davidson) had a line drive hit for a single to bring in a single run, making the score 3-2 at the bottom of the fifth. The next at bat, Alex Urban (Clemson) hit the fence for a double, bringing in two runs for the Tom Sox to take the lead 4-3. Candelaria brought in a run from third shortly after Ceballos threw a passed ball to make the score 5-3 Tom Sox heading into the sixth inning.
After an impressive fifth inning, the Sox took the lead and never looked back, and in the bottom of the sixth inning, Dyal had a quasi-in-the-park homerun for the ‘Sox, along with bringing in two extra runs to make the score 8-3. This forced the Lumberjacks to pull Ceballos and bring in Gant Starling (The Citadel) to pitch.
In the seventh inning, Brady Kirtner (Virginia Tech) came in to pitch for the Tom Sox. Later on during the bottom of the seventh inning, Makenzie Pate (Coastal Carolina) hit a single and later scored to make it 9-3.
To top off the eighth inning, Dillon Janac (Rice) came in to pitch for the ‘Sox to end the game. The Lumberjacks brought in two runs during the 8th due to two ‘Sox errors to decrease the lead to 9-5. Chance Vaught (Arkansas Little Rock) came in to pitch for the Lumberjacks until the end of the game.
To finish off the game, Makenzie Pate (Coastal Carolina) hit a triple for the Tom Sox, cementing their 9-5 victory.
Pierce Bennett (Wake Forest) got on base five times and scored two runs, said he’s excited to be playing for Charlottesville this summer and meeting a whole new team.
“It’s great being out here under the lights, there’s a great atmosphere here, and doing what I can do to help us win,” Bennett said.
Jeff Burton, who is the Tom Sox director of recruiting and interim Head Coach, says the team was a pleasure being around tonight, and they competed really hard.
“It’s great to have a fantastic crowd out here tonight, the fans are really supportive,” Burton said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys on this team who were chomping at the bit to get out there to play tonight,” Burton said.
The ‘Sox will be back in double the action right away tomorrow (6/6) as they face the Woodstock River Bandits in Woodstock, Va for a doubleheader with the first game kicking off at 5 p.m. and the second game starting at 7:30 p.m. All Tom Sox home games are free of charge for the first time as well, as admission is sponsored by Carter Bank & Trust.
Additional Notes
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Dating back to the 2019 season, the Tom Sox won their fifth consecutive game.
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The Tom Sox have won 7 of the last 8 games against Covington.
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With tonight’s win, Charlottesville has won four straight home openers and won their second season opener in team history. Both season-opening wins came against Covington, winning on the road in the 2017 opener.
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Mike Paduano got his first career win as a head coach.
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The ‘Sox used five different pitchers, the most in a game since July 14, 2019.
