CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The “rain, rain” would not go away as the Charlottesville Tom Sox (24-9) and Waynesboro Generals (13-22) battled the elements to get a doubleheader underway on Wednesday evening at Charlottesville High School. After a two-hour rain and lightning delay pushed the first matchup back to 7:05 p.m., the ‘Sox slugged their way to an 11-1 victory.
After what had already become a marathon of an evening, the Generals — whose roster has been depleted as of late — chose to call it a night and forfeit the back-end of the doubleheader.
“It was nice to cool off from the weather a little bit but the rain is hard because you lose focus,” Robbie Lavey (George Washington) said. “We came out though and got the job done, so you’ll hear no complaints from me.”
The Tom Sox answered the thunderstorms with some lightning offense in game one, a makeup of Tuesday night’s postponed matchup, as the run rule was enforced thanks to a three-hit and three-run game from Lavey and a four-RBI outing by Caden Ferraro (Blinn College).
After the all-clear siren sounded across Charlottesville High School, the visiting Tom Sox (the game was originally scheduled to be played in Waynesboro) kicked off the night with a double from Lavey. The rising sophomore’s sixth double of the summer extended his hitting streak to seven games, but the ‘Sox were unable to get on the board in the top of the first.
Chase Stryker (Coastal Carolina) mounted the rubber for his second start where he struck out and retired three of four batters in the opening frame. The South Carolina native finished the evening with five strikeouts and surrendered just one earned run in 4.2 innings of work.
A scoreless second frame brought up a top of the third where all but one of the Charlottesville batters saw the plate. Newcomer Isaac VanderWoude (Virginia) introduced himself to the starting lineup as he ripped the cover off the ball with a solo shot well over the right field fence on the first pitch he saw.
“He was relying on a first-pitch fastball heavily throughout the game,” VanderWoude said, “[so] I was going out there hacking on the first pitch and it felt good.”
The heart of the lineup continued to pile it on in the third frame as the ‘Sox juiced the bases for Ferraro and Cooper Blauser (Jacksonville State) to bring in two more runs via walks.
Up 3-0, the blue and green doubled its run count in the fourth as Cale Stricklin (Auburn) hit an RBI single to shallow left field. A fielders’ choice by Lavey and a Blauser walk brought home the final two runs of the inning to give the ‘Sox a six-run lead.`
Jayson Willers responded for Waynesboro with a home run to deep left field that cut the lead to five, but Stryker punched out two of the following four batters to slam the door shut on a Generals’ comeback.
“My slider, changeup, and curveball all worked off my fastballs and felt good,” Stryker said. “It’s fun when it’s a tight game but it’s better when the offense gives us that big lead.”
A lengthy top of the sixth saw 11 Tom Sox at-bats during which they added five more runs on five hits and one error. Ferraro powered the inning with a bases-clearing double, adding three RBIs to his season-high four on the night.
Will Pearson (Georgia) put the final nail in the coffin as he delivered two groundouts and a game-ending strikeout in the bottom of the sixth for the win.
UP NEXT:
The Generals forfeited the second game of the doubleheader that handed the Tom Sox a series sweep and a 24-9 record on the summer. Charlottesville will travel to Culpeper to face the Cavaliers (15-18) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Charlottesville played their first doubleheader of the summer.
- This is the fourth run-rule victory of the season for Charlottesville and the third against the Generals.
- Colby Wallace (East Carolina) reached base in all of his plate appearances, going 1-for-1 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch.
- Dean Mihos (Coastal Carolina) extended his on-base streak to 13 games, one game shy of tying Ethan Gibson for the longest streak by a player this season.
- Robbie Lavey extended his hit streak to seven games, tied for the longest hit streak by a ‘Sox player this season.
- ‘Sox runners were caught on the basepaths four times – one pickoff and three times caught stealing.
