Tom Sox Travel to Front Royal for Second Time in Seven Days

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (7-5) will face the Front Royal Cardinals (7-6) tonight at Bing Crosby Stadium in Front Royal. It will be broadcast live on the Royal Examiner website. First pitch is set for 7 P.M.

Coverage: Viewers can head to the Royal Examiner website 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: Tickets to Cardinals games are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors (60+) and youth (6-12).

PROBABLE STARTERS

Charlottesville: RHP Mark Perkins – Rice (0-0, 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 9 K)

Front Royal: TBA

LEADING OFF

• The Tom Sox will travel to Front Royal for the second time in seven days and look to avenge last week’s 9-6 loss.

• The Tom Sox are on a 2-game win streak after losing three consecutive games.

• Charlottesville enters the game with the league’s second-lowest ERA (3.94), trailing only Strasburg. Their .202 opponent average leads the league.

• The ‘Sox enter Saturday’s game 5-1 on the road, the lone loss coming against the Cardinals. They are averaging 9.2 runs per game on the road, making up 71% of their total run output on the year.

• Charlottesville’s 165 wins since 2017 are the most in the Valley League.

• The ‘Sox have stolen 59 bases on the season, the fourth-most in team history.

STREAKY SUMMER

• Since going 1-2 over the first three games, Charlottesville has gone on a 4-game win streak, 3-game losing streak, and is now on a 2-game winning streak.

• Charlottesville’s wins and losses have heavily depended on the offense’s run output. They are averaging 9.0 runs per game in wins and 2.8 in losses, with a differential of 49 runs between their wins and losses. Contrarily, the pitching staff has allowed only six more runs in losses than wins.

• The ‘Sox have won two and dropped four home games. They have scored seven runs in both of the home wins and two runs in all four home losses. In all four home losses, they have not put across a run after the first three innings.

LAST TIME OUT

• Jaden Anderson hit a fifth inning grand slam to punctuate a 9-6 Cardinal victory last Sunday.

• Half of Charlottesville’s runs came in a three-run ninth inning.

• Charlottesville out-hit Front Royal 7-4, their first loss when out-hitting their opponent on the year.

• Mark Perkins – who will start tonight’s game – put together a strong three innings on the mound, allowing one hit, no runs, and striking out five.

• Jeremy Goins and Davian Garcia each allowed four earned runs across their two combined innings.

• Shane Stossel was the only ‘Sox hitter with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 in his first game since June 2.

• Front Royal’s nine runs were their most ever against Charlottesville.

SPEEDY ‘SOX

• The Tom Sox have stolen 59 bases in their first 12 games, the most in franchise history.

• The 2023 team is already fourth in team history in single-season stolen bases, having surpassed the 2018 (47), 2016 (43), 2019 (34) and 2015 (40) teams.

• The 2023 ‘Sox now own the top two stolen base days in team history, stealing nine in game two against Covington and ten last night at Harrisonburg.

• 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.

• This season, the ‘Sox have five games with 6+ stolen bases after having only six such games in their first seven seasons (322 games).

• The ‘Sox are currently on pace for 216 stolen bases on the year. The current team record is 110, set by the 2021 team.

• Lyndon Coleman’s record in the VBL is 120, set by the 2016 Winchester Royals.

• They were not caught stealing over their first seven games, the longest streak without being caught to begin a season in team history.

ARMS ON FIRE

• The Tom Sox are second in the Valley League with a 3.94 ERA, trailing only Strasburg.

• ‘Sox pitchers have allowed four or fewer runs in eight of 12 games, including every one of the team’s seven wins.

• Tom Sox starting pitching has allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of 12 games this summer. In the two that they have, the bullpen has tossed five or more scoreless innings to secure two wins.

• Three ‘Sox pitchers have tossed at least five innings without allowing a run – Mark Perkins, Mike Eggert, and Ryan Lynch.

• Nine total pitchers have allowed one or no runs this season.

• Charlottesville has walked the fewest batters in the league (52), has the fewest walks allowed per 9 innings (4.5), and the most strikeouts per nine innings (11.3). They have 15 fewer walks than the second place teams, and a nearly one walk per game advantage over second-place Harrisonburg.

• Charlottesville’s 2.5 strikeout to walk ratio is 0.6 above Harrisonburg, who is only 0.1 above the next-best team.

C’VILLE TO OMAHA

• Ten former ‘Sox are representing their respective schools in the Men’s College World Series, currently taking place at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

• Wyatt Langford (‘21) – a consensus top MLB draft prospect – highlights the list of Florida Gators that also includes starting outfielder Tyler Shelnut (‘22), reserve outfielder Matthew Prevesk (‘22), and reliever Fisher Jameson (‘22).

• Three from the 1-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons make the list, starting outfielders Pierce Bennett and Adam Cecere (‘21) and reserve outfielder Kyle Joye (‘22).

• TCU leadoff hitter Elijah Nunez (‘21) and reliever Garrett Wright (‘22) represent the ‘Sox’s Horned Frog contingent.

• Rounding out the list is Tennessee starting catcher Cal Stark (‘21), who transferred to the Vols from Weatherford College in Texas.

• Also representing the ‘Sox is Virginia’s Aidan Teel, who will play in Charlottesville this summer following the Hoos’ MCWS run.

AGAINST FRONT ROYAL

• The Tom Sox have 14 of the 19 all-time meetings, including six of the last seven.

• Charlottesville’s six-game win streak against Front Royal was snapped in last week’s meeting.

• The ‘Sox have never lost consecutive games against the Cardinals.

• Charlottesville’s largest win in team history came against Front Royal, a 17-0 win in game two of a doubleheader on July 9, 2018.

SCOUTING FRONT ROYAL

• The Cardinals enter tonight’s game tied with Harrisonburg for fifth place in the league, half a game behind Charlottesville.

• Front Royal enters the game coming off a 20-5 extra-inning win over New Market. The Cardinals scored 15 runs in the tenth inning to defeat New Market, with 19 total plate appearances in the inning.

• Prior to a Thursday loss to Culpeper, Front Royal won three straight, a streak which began with last Sunday’s win over Charlottesville.

• The Cardinals’ .251 batting average sits ninth in the league, but they lead the VBL with ten home runs.

• Front Royal’s 4.95 ERA is fourth in the VBL.

• Three of Front Royal’s ten homers have been hit by Jaden Anderson, who is the reigning Valley League Hitter of the Week. One of the three was a grand slam Sunday against Charlottesville. He also sits third in the VBL in batting average (.429, second in slugging percentage (.786), and leads the league in on-base percentage (.590) and OPS (1.376).