WAYNESBORO, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (1-2) secured their first win of the 2025 season by using a late comeback to defeat the Waynesboro Generals, 10-9.
After dropping the first two games, the ‘Sox used a big day at the plate from Patrick Niehus (Gardner Webb) and crunch time pitching from Trevor Booton (Auburn) and Jason Ban (Davidson) to finally get in the win column.
The Tom Sox found the board first in the second inning, with Kaegan Costa (Paul D. Camp) and Kyle Langley (James Madison) recording RBI singles to make it 2-0.
‘Sox pitcher Tim Lawson (North Carolina) worked a scoreless first before the Generals tagged him for two runs in the bottom of the second to square it up at 2-2.
Lane Duff (James Madison) was the first arm to relieve Lawson out of the bullpen. Duff pitched a scoreless third inning, before the Generals charged him with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth.
Niehus scored the first of his two runs on the day when Adonys Velez (Florida International) brought him home on an RBI single.
The Tom Sox knotted the score up at four apiece in the sixth with Langley reaching base via a fielder’s choice and finding his way across the plate on a passed ball.
Bradley Link (Pensacola State) entered in the sixth before running into some trouble in the seventh inning. Booton came in after Link walked four straight, and after allowing a pair of doubles, he was able to end the inning with the ‘Sox trailing 9-4.
The ‘Sox found a spark in the top of the eighth, an inning in which the squad batted all the way around.
Jesus Cesari (Southeast Arkansas) started the inning with a walk, and was later joined by teammates Jackson Sirois (Virginia) and Gian De Castro (Arizona State). Niehus cashed in on the patience of his teammates by blasting a bases clearing double to bring them home and cut the lead to two.
Hudson Lutterman (Virginia Tech) then brought Niehus home with a single, slicing the lead for Waynesboro to one. Shortly thereafter, with the bases loaded, Cesari worked a walk in his second at-bat of the inning to bring home a run. Langley also worked a walk, giving the Tom Sox back-to-back RBI walks to make it a 10-9 lead.
After Booton pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Ban came in to attempt to slam the door shut for the ‘Sox. Ban recorded a strikeout before getting Miles Nelson to pop out to end the ballgame, and to earn his first save of the season.
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox will be in action once again as they get set to host the Front Royal Cardinals on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. at CHO Airport Field at Charlottesville High School.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- The Tom Sox walked 14 times as a team in this game, good for the second most in a single game in franchise history (16 vs. Woodstock on June 12, 2018 is the record)
- Lane Duff’s (James Madison) three innings of relief were the most by any Tom Sox reliever so far this season
- Tuesday’s come-from-behind win was the first for the ‘Sox since Game 3 of the 2024 Valley League Championship Series, when Charlottesville came back from a 4-0 deficit to win 9-5
- Every starter for the Tom Sox reached base at least once, and out of the three reserves that entered, only one did not reach base
- Kyle Langley (James Madison), Patrick Niehus (Gardner-Webb), and Jackson Sirois (Virginia) each reached base safely three times
- The ‘Sox scored 10 runs despite only having one extra-base hit (Niehus’ three-run double in 8th)
