Following the conclusion of the Valley League regular season, the Charlottesville Tom Sox will enter the playoffs for the seventh-straight season. After clinching the South Division regular season title on July 19 against Covington, the Tom Sox (26-13) will play through the final two rounds as the division’s number one seed. With the addition of Culpeper into the divisional format for the first time (the VBL played with no divisions in 2023, Culpeper’s inaugural season) and to condense the league schedule, the Valley League will play a modified playoff format for the first time since Charlottesville joined the league in 2015.
Instead of three, best-of-three series as is tradition, the number one seeds in each division (Purcellville in the North, Charlottesville in the South) will receive a bye to the division championship series. Each one seed will face the winner of a wild card game between the second and third seeds from each division, which will be hosted by the second-seeded teams.
Following the wild card game, the playoffs will proceed as they have historically with a best-of-three division championship series in both the North and South determining the two teams that will face off in the best-of-three league championship series. The league championship series will begin as soon as the division championship series conclude, either on July 28 or 29. The one-seeds will play at home for games one and three of the division championship and will travel for game two. In the league championship series, the team with the best regular season record will receive home field advantage.
As a result, the Tom Sox will open postseason play on Friday (July 26) against either the Harrisonburg Turks or Culpeper Cavaliers. Games one and three (if necessary) will take place at Charlottesville High School and begin at 7 p.m. Friday’s game will also be the Tom Sox’s annual Military Appreciation Night, which was rescheduled from July 18 due to inclement weather. All active-duty military and veterans will receive free admission.
Below is the full Valley League playoff schedule, assuming that all series are three games long:
Wild Card Games – Thursday, July 25
North: 3 Winchester (20-20) vs 2 Strasburg (23-17)
South: 3 Culpeper (20-20) vs 2 Harrisonburg (22-17)
Division Championship Series (Best of 3) – Friday, July 26-Sunday, July 28
North: 1 Purcellville (26-14) vs wild card winner
South: 1 Charlottesville (26-13) vs wild card winner
Valley League Championship Series (Best of 3) – Monday, July 29-Wednesday, July 31
North winner vs South winner
For up-to-date schedule information, visit tomsox.org.
