COVINGTON, Va. — The Charlottesville Tom Sox (26-12) fell to the Covington Lumberjacks (16-19) 6-2 on Sunday night at Casey Field. Colby Wallace (East Carolina) went 3-for-4 on the evening with two singles and a double at the dish despite the final score in favor of the Lumberjacks.
The home team fed off their crowd and struck first. After chopping down the ‘Sox in the top of the first, Covington erupted with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Two hits, two Charlottesville errors, and a few walks gave Covington the early 3-0 advantage.
In the top of the second, Wallace singled and came around to score on an RBI double from Cooper Blauser (Jacksonville State) who continued his recent hot streak by going 2-for-3 on the night and helping to ignite the green and blue’s offense.
Charlottesville utilized Wallace at the plate and on the bump as the ECU Pirate got the start. The North Carolina native retired the side in the bottom of the second and his line closed after 2.0 innings pitched, allowing two earned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three Lumberjacks.
Thomas Whelan (Davidson) came on in relief of Wallace but got caught in a jam early. The Lumberjacks tagged two more on Whelan in the bottom of the third to expand their lead to 5-1.
In the fourth, the two teams exchanged blows as both plated a run in the frame. For the Tom Sox in the top of the inning, Wallace doubled and came around to score. The Lumberjacks added their run on two hits and a C’Ville error. At the end of four innings, Covington led 6-2.
If you like donuts, you were in luck the rest of the way as both sides traded zeroes on the scoreboard from the fifth inning onwards.
Despite some early troubles, Whelan manned the ship for four strong frames, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. He passed the baton to Ryan Hanks (Blinn) and Bobby Olsen (Villanova) who combined for two scoreless and hitless innings pitched while each snagged one strikeout.
The Lumberjacks closed the door on the ‘Sox in the ninth and kept themselves in the thick of the postseason race as the final few games of the regular season schedule wrap up this week.
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox are back in action Monday night at Culpeper County High School where they’re scheduled to square off with the Culpeper Cavaliers at 7 p.m.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- The Tom Sox have lost their last two games at Casey Field after winning the previous five.
- Hanks appeared in a game for the first time since leaving the previous game in Covington (July 3) with an injury.
- Charlottesville finished the day 2-for-20 with runners on base.
- Charlottesville’s 4-5-6 batters combined to reach base eight of the team’s 11 times on the night.
