CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (22-11) will face the Covington Lumberjacks (18-17) on Bark in the Park Night at CHO Airport Field. It will be broadcast live on the Tom Sox Facebook page and Tom Sox TV. First pitch is set for 7 P.M.
Coverage: Viewers can head to the Tom Sox Facebook Page or Tom Sox TV to watch tonight’s game. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox Twitter account (@CvilleTomSox) will provide live updates.
Ticket Information: Admission to Tom Sox games is $5 for one person and $10 for a carload. All prices include parking.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Covington: RHP Brian Garmon II – Georgia State (4 GS, 0-0, 22.0 IP, 4.09 ERA, 10 BB, 16 K)
Charlottesville: RHP Zach Mack – San Jacinto (2 APP, 1-0, 3.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K)
LEADING OFF:
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The Tom Sox and Lumberjacks will face off for the fourth and final time this season.
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Charlottesville has won the last seven games against Covington, the longest streak in series history.
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The Tom Sox lead the VBL standings, ½ game ahead of Strasburg and Harrisonburg for the top spot.
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The ‘Sox have scored seven or more runs in each of their last five games.
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Charlottesville leads the Valley League in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, walks per nine innings, strikeout to walk ratio, and opponent batting average.
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Zach Mack will make his first start of the season after making his first two appearances out of the bullpen.
SOX ARE HOT:
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The Tom Sox have won 13 of their last 17 games.
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Charlottesville has not lost consecutive games since June 24 & 27, a streak of 17 games.
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During the 17-game span which began June 29, the Tom Sox have gone on an 8-game win streak (June 29-July 8) and a 3-game win streak (July 16-17).
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They are hitting .268 over the streak while limiting opponents to .215. Over their first 16 games, they hit .235.
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Connor Hincks leads the team over the last 17 games with a .340 average, .383 slugging percentage, .500 on-base percentage, and 15 walks. Derek Williams’ 11 RBI leads the team.
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The Tom Sox have stolen only 30 bases in the last 17 games after stealing 74 over the first 16 games.
LEAVING THE YARD:
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After homering only four times over their first 16 games, the Tom Sox have hit ten home runs in their last 17 games.
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Four have come off the bat of home run derby champion Derek Williams. All four of Williams’ homers, including both at Strasburg, have either tied the game or given the ‘Sox the lead.
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Kalvin Alexander has hit two during the streak, including a grand slam yesterday at New Market. Alexander is the Tom Sox’s all-time home run leader with nine career long balls.
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Alex Bouche and Kyle Edwards each have hit one homer as part of the streak. Edwards had one long ball early in the season, while Bouche’s was his first.
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Nathan Fink hit his first homer of the season against Culpeper, a grand slam. It marked Charlotteville’s first grand slam since July 24 of last season against Waynesboro.
NO DAYS OFF:
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The ‘Sox began a stretch last Wednesday of 23 games in 22 days, with no days off for the remainder of the summer.
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Eight of the 23 games are doubleheaders.
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The ‘Sox have gained another three off days with rainouts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday’s game at Staunton was played on Monday, while reschedule dates for Friday and Saturday’s postponed games will be played next Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
AGAINST COVINGTON:
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The Tom Sox and Lumberjacks will face off for the 53rd all-time meeting, the third-most-played series in Tom Sox history (Waynesboro & Staunton).
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Charlottesville holds a 12-game edge in the all-time series, 32-20. They have won the last seven matchups in the series dating back to last season, a series record.
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Charlottesville has scored double-digit runs three times over the last seven games.
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The last two meetings have both been decided by three or fewer runs after the previous five were won by at least four.
DOMINANT SHOWING:
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The Tom Sox swept a Monday doubleheader against Staunton, winning games by scores of 19-2 and 11-1.
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Charlottesville scored a total of 30 runs in the two run-rule wins, the most in a single day in team history (previous high: 26 on July 10, 2021 against New Market).
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The 19 runs scored in game one tied a team record that had not been touched since 2017:
MOST RUNS SCORED – TOM SOX SINGLE GAME
OPPONENT DATE RUNS 1. at Covington 6/18/17 19 at Strasburg 6/24/15 19 at Staunton-1 7/17/23 19 4. at Purcellville 7/10/19 18 at Waynesboro-2 7/24/22 18 at Staunton 6/2/19 18 -
The 5-inning run rule wins were the first two doubleheader games to end in run-rule fashion in Tom Sox history.
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Three players scored four runs in game one, which tie for the second-most in a game in team history.
RECORD-SETTING DAYS:
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Kyle Edwards set a Tom Sox record in the second game of July 9’s doubleheader with his 66th career start for the team.
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Garrett Spikes sits only six starts behind him entering tonight’s game.
MOST CAREER STARTS – TOM SOX HISTORY
SEASONS STARTS 1. Kyle Edwards 2022-23 69 2. Jack Morris 2016,18 65 3. Brian Fortier 2015-16 64 4. Garrett Spikes 2021-23 63 5. Logan Amiss 2021-22 48 -
Jordan Little set a team record with 11 strikeouts in four innings last Tuesday. Three pitchers had previously hit ten strikeouts, but he is the first to reach the teens.
MOST STRIKEOUTS IN A GAME – TOM SOX HISTORY
DATE K IP 1. Jordan Little 7/11/23 11 4.0 2. Cody Maw 6/28/18 10 5.0 Dillon Janac 6/27/21 10 5.0 Hayden McCutcheon 6/30/15 10 5.0
SPEEDY ‘SOX:
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The Tom Sox have stolen 104 bases in their first 33 games, the most over that span in franchise history.
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The 2023 team has sole possession of second place in team history in single-season stolen bases. They now only trail the 2021 team, who stole 110 in 2021:
SB GAMES 1. 2021 110 42 2. 2023 104 33 3. 2017 66 49 2022 66 48 5. 2018 47 48 -
The 2023 ‘Sox now own the top three stolen base days in team history, stealing nine in game two against Covington, ten on June 9 at Harrisonburg, and eight on June 18 (tied with one other).
MOST STOLEN BASES – SINGLE GAMEOPPONENT DATE SB 1. at Harrisonburg 6/9/23 10 2. at Covington 6/2/23 9 3. at Woodstock 6/6/21 8 at Culpeper 6/18/23 8 5. at Woodstock 6/7/23 7 at Harrisonburg 6/29/21 7 -
Josh Tate tied the individual single-game record with four steals at Harrisonburg, tying a record that had not been touched in exactly eight years.
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This season, the ‘Sox have six games with 6+ stolen bases after having only six such games in their first seven seasons (322 games).
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They were not caught stealing over their first seven games, the longest streak without being caught to begin a season in team history.
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The Tom Sox have not stolen more than three bases in a game since July 3.
SHUTDOWN ARMS:
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The Tom Sox lead the Valley League in virtually every major pitching stat with a 3.65 ERA, .205 opponent average, 4.4 BB/9, 10.9 K/9, and a 2.5 strikeout to walk ratio.
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‘Sox pitchers have allowed four or fewer runs in 22 of 33 games. Last night’s game at New Market was their first allowing double-digit runs in a game.
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The Tom Sox have not allowed more than eight runs at home this season.
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Mark Perkins falls just short of the innings needed to lead the league in ERA, but his 0.69 ERA would rank on the top of the board if he were eligible.
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The Tom Sox have led the VBL in ERA in four of the last seven seasons.
SAME FACES, NEW PLACES:
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15 total Tom Sox players (active and inactive) entered the season with the intent to transfer (either in the transfer portal or transferring from JUCO), with eight of them finding destinations as of Thursday morning (July 13).
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The ‘Sox who have publicly committed to new schools include Josh Tate (Georgia Southern), Nathan Fink (Florida Southwestern JC), Jordan Little (Virginia Tech), David Utagawa (UC Irvine), Henry Hardie (High Point), Salvy Alvarez (Florida Southwestern JC), Ryan Keenan (Georgetown), and Lucas Cash (Wake Tech CC).
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A total of 24 players on this season’s overall roster have either transferred or are currently in the transfer portal.
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Editor’s note: All players who are listed in the transfer portal without a final destination are either listed in the D1Baseball Transfer Tracker or have graduated from their junior college/4-year college.
SCOUTING COVINGTON:
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Covington sits in sixth place with a 18-17 overall record. They have lost their last three games.
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The ‘Jacks have seen a significant amount of roster turnover; a total of 15 hitters and 14 pitchers who appeared in a game this summer are no longer on the team. The hitters lost include team leader Logan Braunschweig, who still sits third in the VBL in batting average (.377).
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Covington’s offense ranks second in the league with a .280 batting average. Their 6.3 runs per game is in the middle of the pack.
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The Lumberjack pitching staff is fifth in the league with a 5.12 ERA.
