CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Less than a week ago in the season opener, the Charlottesville Tom Sox (3-1) fell to the Staunton Braves (3-2) in a nail-biting 9-8 ballgame. But on Star Wars Night at Willie T. Barnett Field on Thursday night, assistant coach Scott Stricklin led his team onto the field for a rematch against their South Division rivals.
In a game that resembled The Empire Strikes Back, the Tom Sox got their revenge on Staunton with a 10-0 run-rule victory in eight innings after the Charlottesville pitching staff dominated, tossing a combined one-hitter and its first shutout of the young season.
Pitcher Hutson Trobaugh (Old Dominion) got the start for the Tom Sox and after letting up a first-pitch single, the rising sophomore retired the side with three straight strikeouts.
C’Ville left two runners on base in the bottom of the frame, but Trobaugh continued to wheel and deal on the mound. The lefty sent all three Braves’ hitters back to the dugout while recording two more strikeouts.
The home team’s bats came alive a third of the way through the game as an error in the field put Cade Belyeu (Auburn) on first with Tommy Roldan (Virginia) on second. Robbie Lavey (George Washington) then drove his teammates in with a two-RBI double.
The Trobaugh show ended in the fourth inning, but not before the big lefty had used the force to tally eight strikeouts — tying the Valley League leader on the season. Chase Stryker (Coastal Carolina) finished the inning, sending it to the bottom of the fourth where Ethan Gibson (Virginia Tech) and Cale Stricklin (Auburn) got on base with a pair of walks.
In his second appearance with the Tom Sox, Sam Mummau (Florida) drove in Gibson with an RBI single to right field. Stricklin scored soon after on a wild pitch and a Roldan RBI capped off a four-run fourth.
A scoreless fifth inning and top half of the sixth brought Roldan back up to the plate with one out when he blasted Charlottesville’s first triple of the season into the right-center field gap. But Braves pitcher Zachary Horn wiggled out of the jam with two quick strikeouts.
The offense made up for the stranded base runner after the seventh-inning stretch as James Taussig (UTSA) got on base with his first hit of the season and rounded the bases thanks to a Gibson single and Stricklin groundout. The Tom Sox threatened to mercy rule the Braves in the frame, loading the bases before a Roldan walk and Belyeu groundout brought Charlottesville’s eighth and ninth runs home. But that would be it for the Sox in the seventh as a Lavey groundout extended the game for Staunton.
Charlottesville would need just three more outs to seal the deal, however, as pinch hitter Landon Bruce (San Jacinto) drove in the final run to end the game in the bottom of the eighth. As the Star Wars celebration music serenaded Charlottesville High School, the Tom Sox walked off with a 10-0 win.
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox move to 3-1 and will face Culpeper for the second time this summer on Friday at 7 p.m. at Culpeper County High School.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Charlottesville’s one-hitter is the second in team history, and first since allowing one hit in a 7-inning game against Staunton in June 2021.
- The ‘Sox have allowed a total of one run and three hits across their last 16 innings on the mound.
- The shutout was the first for the Tom Sox this season, and the first by any VBL team. Their first shutout last season did not come until July.
- Trobaugh’s eight strikeouts are the most a Tom Sox pitcher has recorded in a game this season. Five of the eight came via the looking variety, tied for the most looking strikeouts in team history.
- Sam Mummau was 2-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in his season debut.
- The ‘Sox are tied atop the South Division, are undefeated at home, and are on a three-game winning streak.
