CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 1-seed from the South Division, the Charlottesville Tom Sox (28-14) will face the 1-seed from the North Division, the Purcellville Cannons (28-14) in the best-of-three Valley Baseball League championship series. Games one and three (if necessary) will be played at Charlottesville High School, while game two will be held at Historic Fireman’s Field in Purcellville. All three games will begin at 7 p.m.
Coverage: Games one and three will be broadcast live on the Tom Sox Facebook page and Tom Sox TV. Game two will be broadcast on the Purcellville Cannons YouTube channel. All three games will have live audio broadcast on Stretch Internet, with live statistics available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox X account (@CvilleTomSox) will provide live updates.
Ticket Information: Admission to all games is $5 per person.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Purcellville – Games 1-3: TBD
Charlottesville – Game 1: RHP Colby Wallace – East Carolina (6 Games, 1 Start, 1-1, 6.0 IP, 6.00 ERA, 9 BB, 7 K)
Charlottesville – Game 2: RHP Bobby Olsen – Nebraska (7 Games, 2 Starts, 3-0, 19.0 IP, 1.42 ERA, 7 BB, 24 K)
Charlottesville – Game 3 (if necessary): RHP James Hays – Stetson (8 Games, 7 Starts, 1-1, 29.0 IP, 13 BB, 29 K)
LEADING OFF:
- The Charlottesville Tom Sox make their third consecutive trip to the Valley Baseball League Championship, and their sixth trip in the last seven seasons. Charlottesville’s six finals appearances are the most in the league since they entered in 2015.
- The ‘Sox will look to maintain the trend of championships in alternating seasons since 2017. They won titles in 2017, 2019, and 2022 (the 2020 season was canceled).
- After a tough game one loss, the Tom Sox bounced back with consecutive dominant wins against the Culpeper Cavaliers to win the South Division Championship.
- Charlottesville and Purcellville will meet in the postseason for the first time.
- Robbie Lavey leads the Tom Sox with a .500 average (5-for-10) through the playoffs and has five RBI to go along with it.
SEASON AT-A-GLANCE:
- Charlottesville brought home their second consecutive Valley League regular season title in 2024, finishing 0.5 games ahead of Purcellville at 26-13 on the year. They carried home a division title for the fourth straight season, winning the South by four games over Harrisonburg.
- The Tom Sox tromped through June with relative ease, going 17-4 and scoring double-digits in nine of those 21 games. Three of the wins came in run-rule fashion.
- The ‘Sox felt more adversity in July as rosters began to turn over, but never let it get to them; never losing consecutive games until they locked up the division title. Charlottesville’s only losing streak this season was a 4-game streak at the end of the regular season.
- Colby Wallace paced Charlottesville’s offense in the regular season, winning the league batting title with a .470 average. He added a team-leading .464 on-base percentage and also ranked among the league’s best in slugging percentage (.489).
- Ryan Wynn and Robbie Lavey also put forth impressive seasons. Lavey paced the team among active players with five long balls, while Wynn ranked among the league’s top five sluggers with seven doubles, three triples, and a .515 slugging percentage.
- A variety of arms led the ‘Sox throughout the year. Among the notable starters were Chase Stryker (2.28 ERA, 28 K), James Hays (3.28 ERA, 25 K), and Trevor Booton (5.08 ERA, 23 K); while Daniel Powell, Ryan Grzesiak, Bobby Olsen, and Will Pearson were among those making the biggest impacts out of the bullpen.
- Charlottesville ended the regular season as the league’s ERA leader at 3.87, and finished third in batting average (.272).
PLAYOFF READY:
- The Tom Sox are making their seventh consecutive postseason appearance in 2024. They have appeared in the VBL Championship in all but one season (2021) since making their debut in 2017.
- Charlottesville has won the VBL Championship in alternating seasons since their first in 2017, doing so in ‘17, ‘19, and ‘22 (the 2020 season was canceled).
- Last season, the Tom Sox defeated the Front Royal Cardinals and Strasburg Express to reach the championship, despite a depleted roster from injuries and departures. They fell 0-2 to the Harrisonburg Turks.
- Charlottesville swept Strasburg in 2022 to win their third title in five seasons.
- The ‘Sox’s three titles since 2017 are the most in the league, as are their six championship appearances.
SEMIFINAL RECAP:
- The Tom Sox fell to the Culpeper Cavaliers 4-1 in game one, but bounced back well with 8-1 and 19-2 wins to clinch the South Division crown.
- Charlottesville was stymied in game one by Culpeper’s Tyler Kaltreider, who tossed 6.2 innings of one-run ball and struck out seven ‘Sox to propel Culpeper to the early advantage. Charlottesville collected only five hits on the night, and their lone run came off the bat of a Caden Ferraro RBI single in the fourth.
- The ‘Sox bounced back in game two off strong offensive nights from Robbie Lavey and Jack McMullan, each of whom had three-run home runs to provide much of Charlottesville’s offense. Lavey finished a triple short of the cycle. On the mound, Chase Stryker and Caden Ferraro combined to allow only one run and three hits across nine innings of work, striking out 13.
- The Tom Sox provided the fireworks in game three, putting on an all-out clinic to advance on a 19-2 win. ‘Sox hitters were the beneficiaries of 12 Cavalier walks and six hit-by-pitches, but also added ten hits (four for extra bases) to make their statement. Thomas Whelan and Ayden Alexander combined to hold the ‘Cavs to two runs on six hits, stranding 12 Culpeper runners.
COLBY JACKS:
- Colby Wallace clinched the Valley League’s batting title for the regular season after finishing the year with a .370 average. His average was six points better than Strasburg’s Connor Chisholm, who finished second.
- Wallace is not the first East Carolina hitter to rank among Charlottesville’s best. Thomas Francisco, who was drafted in 2021, and Carter Cunningham, a ‘24 draftee, own two of Charlottesville’s three best single-season batting averages – .409 and .404, respectively.
- Wallace now sits eighth on the single-season average list at .356 across 104 at-bats on the year.
- In addition to his outstanding average, Wallace leads Charlottesville in on-base percentage (.464, 5th in VBL) and ranks among the team’s best in slugging percentage (.489, 3rd), runs (21, T-4th), doubles (6, T-2nd), and walks (15, 5th). ** regular season **
ADVERSITY = OVERCOME:
- Charlottesville advanced to the championship despite losing many of its key contributors to injury on the season.
- Cade Belyeu, who put the Valley League on notice with a 1.614 OPS and 18 RBI through ten games, was lost to an oblique injury on June 22. Despite only playing ten games, Belyeu finished the regular season among the team’s top five in RBI and still sits second in home runs.
- Johnnie Lopez, a regular who split time between third base and center field, injured his hip with just a few games left in the regular season. Lopez finished the year with a .281 average, four doubles, and three home runs on the season.
- Jake Books was beginning to come into his own when he went down with a hand injury on July 7. Books had collected nine RBI across the previous five games, hitting .471 before exiting his final game in Staunton.
- Tommy Roldan was also a mainstay in the ‘Sox lineup when he went down with a knee injury while making a start on the mound. Roldan sat at a .246 average through 21 games, driving in 17 runs and walking 14 times.
- On the mound, Ethan Sutton was shaping up to be an All-League performer when he left a relief outing with an elbow injury. Through 16 innings, sutton had allowed only three runs, struck out 19, and walked only four.
- Other contributors who were regulars in the lineup before getting injured include David Wiley (.281 BA, 8 RBI in 10 games) and Gavin Miller (.250 BA, .900 OPS in 7 games).
MEN ON THE MOUND:
- Charlottesville completed the regular season as the Valley’s best pitching team, ranking as the league’s best in ERA (3.87), opponent batting average (.216), and WHIP (1.38).
- They also rank among the league’s best in strikeouts per nine (9.3, 5th), walks per nine (5.1, 5th), and strikeouts per walk (1.8, 3rd).
- Due to innings requirements, no Tom Sox pitchers qualified for the regular season ERA title. If Charlottesville’s top starters did, Bobby Olsen would lead the league in ERA (1.42 in 19 innings) and Chase Stryker would rank second (2.28 in 27.2 innings). James Hays would rank third with a 3.28 ERA in 24.2 innings.
ALL-STARS AND PROSPECTS, OH MY!:
- Tom Sox represented a solid core of the rosters for both the VBL’s NACSB Prospect Games roster, who competed on June 24, and the South division All-Star roster, which faced the North on June 30’s game.
- Included on the prospect games roster were pitchers Daniel Powell, Ethan Sutton, and Ryan Grzesiakalongside position players Cade Belyeu (who could not compete due to an injury) and Colby Wallace. The VBL fell 12-10 to the NYCBL.
- The All-Star roster included position players Johnnie Lopez, Robbie Lavey, and Ethan Gibson alongside pitchers Daniel Powell and Ayden Alexander. Alexander took the spot of Marco Levari, who was unable to participate after hitting his innings limit.
- Head Coach Randy Tomlin served as the manager for both squads, courtesy of Charlottesville having the South’s best record through the respective selection dates.
TITLETOWN:
- The Tom Sox have been the Valley’s most successful team since winning their first title in 2017.
- The ‘Sox have appeared in all but one championship series since ‘17 (2021) and have won the league title in three of those six years.
- Charlottesville’s 190-99 record since the start of the 2017 season is the best in the VBL.
- Charlottesville’s six championship appearances and three titles since 2017 are both the most in the VBL over that span. They are tied with Strasburg in both titles won and championship appearances if including the entirety of Charlottesville’s nine seasons of existence.
- The Tom Sox have won the league title in alternating seasons since their first title in 2017.
