The Charlottesville Tom Sox took home a second straight victory over Harrisonburg, winning 11-7. The Sox hot offense continued to dominate, scoring six in the third inning alone. The 11 run, 11 hit outing secured Charlottesville’s fourth straight victory.
The Sox batters got off to a hot start. Wyatt Langford’s (Florida) sacrifice fly in the first scored Cole Foster and Logan Amiss (Virginia Commonwealth) scored on Adam Cecare (Wake Forest) single in the second. Jake Haney (William & Mary) started on the mound for the ‘Sox tonight and pitched a scoreless first two innings. In the third, Harrisonburg’s Connor Hartigan (James Madison) drove in two for the Turks, making it 2-2. Haney left the game with 2 runners on. James Vaughn (Duke) came in for relief, but the Turks added 2 more to make it 4-2 Harrisonburg.
After giving up the lead, the Sox fired back in the bottom of the third. Trevor Candelaria (Davidson) hit a leadoff homerun to cut the deficit in half. Wyatt Langford scored on a wild pitch to tie the game again at 4. Logan Amiss (Virginia Commonwealth) and Garrett Spikes (Georgia) both reached base, and an Adam Cecare single gave the Sox a 6-4 lead. Later that inning, a Gehrig Ebel (Virginia Tech) sacrifice fly and Cole Foster’s (Auburn) single pushed the advantage to 8-4.
Consistent pitching from Vaughn as well as spectacular defense plays from the likes of Kam Guidry (Georgia) and Logan Amiss stymied the Turks’ offense. The opponents were only able to score three more in the final six innings, making the game relatively stress free for Charlottesville. Harrisonburg on the other hand had numerous issues in the field. Multiple pitching changes as well as a couple misplayed groundballs helped the Charlottesville offense gain some momentum.
In the top of the 6th, Vaughn ran into trouble, allowing 2 Turks to score. Andrew Ward (Virginia Commonwealth) took the mound and shut down Harrisonburg. In his 3.2 innings, he recorded 8 strikeouts while giving up just 1 run in the 9th. On the offensive side, Cal Stark (Weatherford College) and Wyatt Langford opened the inning with two singles. Logan Amiss stepped up and drove in both baserunners, taking the Sox’s run total to 11.
Harrisonburg started a ninth inning rally, scoring an early run, but Ward stepped up when he was needed the most. A groundout and a strikeout ended the game and secured a Tom Sox 11-7 victory.
The Tom Sox are back in action Thursday night in Waynesboro, and will be home again Friday night at 7 P.M. Parking and admission are free all season thanks to our friends at Carter Bank & Trust!
