CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (15-11) will face the Front Royal Cardinals (13-19) in a cross-division doubleheader today at Bing Crosby Stadium in Front Royal. It will be broadcast live on the Royal Examiner website. First pitch for game one is set for 4:30 P.M., with the second to follow approximately 30 minutes after the first.
Coverage: Viewers can head to the Royal Examiner website to watch today’s games. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox Twitter account (@CvilleTomSoxVBL) will provide live updates.
Ticket Information: Tickets to Cardinals games are available at the gate.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1
Charlottesville: RHP Emmett Bice, College of Charleston (2-0, 2.87 ERA, 15.2 IP, 7 BB, 14 K)
Front Royal: TBA
Game 2
Charlottesville: LHP Luke Wagner, Georgia (0-1, 7.36 ERA, 7.1 IP, 5 BB, 10 K)
Front Royal: TBA
LEADING OFF
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The Tom Sox will make their first and only trip to Front Royal this season, facing the Cardinals in a DH at Bing Crosby Stadium.
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After the area received more than two inches of rain in 24 hours, last night’s home game against Harrisonburg was postponed. It will be made up as a DH on July 21.
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The Tom Sox have scored double-digit runs in three straight games, averaging 15 runs per game over the span.
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Charlottesville played their 300th all-time game Friday against Staunton and are now only 16 victories away from 200.
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Cole Wagner is on a 17-game on-base streak, tied for the seventh-longest on-base streak in Tom Sox history.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS
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Emmett Bice will make his third start of the season in game one. He’s coming off his best start of the season last week against Winchester, tossing six innings with seven strikeouts. He is the only Tom Sox starter to work six innings in a start this season, doing so in just 81 pitches.
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Luke Wagner makes his third start of the season in game two. Contrarily, Wagner is coming off his worst start of the season in his last outing against Staunton. On July 1, he pitched only two innings, allowing three runs, four hits, and three strikeouts. Tonight will be his first start in a doubleheader. He has also appeared in seven games at the dish for the ‘Sox, batting .100 with a homer.
SOX ARE HOT!
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The Tom Sox offense has exploded over the last five games, scoring 54 runs. That’s good for just over 10 runs per game.
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45 of those have come in just the last three.
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Charlottesville is batting .364 over the 5-game win streak with 56 hits, 15 doubles, five home runs, and 37 walks to 30 strikeouts.
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The ‘Sox have scored double-digit runs in 3-straight games. They defeated Waynesboro 17-4 on Monday, shut out Covington 16-0 on Tuesday, and took out Staunton 12-4 on Friday.
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33 runs in back-to-back games (Monday & Tuesday) is the most in team history.
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16 runs on Tuesday was the second-largest margin of victory in a single game in Tom Sox history. The 17 runs scored on Monday were tied for the most ever at Charlottesville High School.
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Charlottesville’s batting average and OPS have both jumped from last to third in the VBL over the last seven days.
AGAINST FRONT ROYAL
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The Tom Sox and Cardinals will play their only matchup of the regular season today.
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The ‘Sox will travel to Bing Crosby Stadium for the first time since June 2019, a 2-1 win.
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Charlottesville has won the last four meetings against Front Royal, three of the four coming in Charlottesville. They swept a make-up doubleheader with the Cardinals last season, outscoring Front Royal 14-3.
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Charlottesville’s four-game win streak is the longest by any team in the series. Front Royal has never won two or more straight games against the Tom Sox.
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During the win streak, the Tom Sox are outscoring the Cardinals 19-8.
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Charlottesville’s largest margin of victory all-time came against Front Royal, a 17-0 victory in the second game of a 2018 DH.
DEFENSIVE PROWESS
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The Tom Sox have been one of the top defensive teams in the Valley League this summer.
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Charlottesville’s .973 fielding percentage and 24 errors both lead the Valley League.
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The ‘Sox have committed only two errors over their last ten games.
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Kyle Edwards, Charlottesville’s starting shortstop, has only one error, as does infielder Gavin Abrams, who’s started 17 of 25 games.
