CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (19-10) will face the Purcellville Cannons (14-17) in a doubleheader today at Fireman’s Field.. It will be broadcast live on the Cannons YouTube channel. First pitch is set for 4 P.M., with the second game to follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
Coverage: Viewers can head to the Cannons YouTube channel 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: Admission to Cannons games are $5 for adults, $3 for veterans, military, and first responders, $2 for children, and free for Little League players wearing a jersey.
LEADING OFF:
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The Tom Sox will play their third and fourth games of the year against the Cannons, eyeing a series win for the sixth straight season.
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The Tom Sox sit a half game back from Strasburg for the VBL lead with a 19-10 record and .655 win percentage.
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After going on an eight-game win streak, the ‘Sox have lost three of their last five games. They have failed to score more than one run in two of the three losses.
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Charlottesville wrapped up a stretch of eleven home games in 16 days Wednesday.
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The Tom Sox have won five of their last seven road games.
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Kyle Edwards set a Tom Sox record with his 66th all-time start in game two on Sunday, breaking a record that had stood since 2018. Teammate Garrett Spikes sits only eight games behind him.
SOX ARE HOT:
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The Tom Sox have won ten of their last 13 games.
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Charlottesville’s eight-game win streak was snapped in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. The eight-straight wins were the most since the 2017 season, when the ‘Sox won 12 straight.
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The Tom Sox were averaging 3.3 runs per game at home prior to their eight-game win streak. Since June 29, when the win streak began, they are averaging 5.2 runs per game at CHO Airport Field.
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Charlottesville has a win streak of at least five games for the fourth straight season.
LEAVING THE YARD:
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After homering only four times over their first 16 games, the Tom Sox have hit eight home runs in their last 13 games.
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Four have come off the bat of home run derby champion Derek Williams. All four of Williams’ homers, including both on Saturday at Strasburg, have either tied the game or given the ‘Sox the lead.
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Alex Bouche, Kalvin Alexander, and Kyle Edwards each have hit one homer as part of the streak. Edwards and Alexander each had one long ball early in the season, while Bouche’s was his first.
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Nathan Fink hit his first homer of the season Wednesday against Culpeper, a grand slam. It marked Charlotteville’s first grand slam since July 24 of last season against Waynesboro.
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Prior to the current streak, all four of Charlottesville’s home runs had been 2-run shots.
NO DAYS OFF:
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The ‘Sox began a stretch last Wednesday of 23 games in 19 days, with no days off for the remainder of the summer.
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Eight of the 23 games are doubleheaders.
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The stretch has been extended to 23 games in 20 days with one off day, courtesy of last Friday’s rainout against Woodstock. The doubleheader has been moved to July 20, with the road game at Woodstock now on July 24.
AGAINST PURCELLVILLE:
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The Tom Sox have a 15-5 all-time edge against the Cannons, tied for their second-largest series differential all-time (they have 11 more wins than Front Royal in their series).
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The Tom Sox’s 8-game win streak in the series was snapped in this season’s opener, an 8-2 Cannons win.
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The Tom Sox have won every series since the 2017 season, and all but one season series in their history; 2016 the lone exception.
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Charlottesville will make their first trek to Purcellville since the 2021 season, when they swept a doubleheader. They allowed two total runs to the Cannons in 14 innings.
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With a doubleheader sweep, Purcellville is seeking back-to-back wins against Charlottesville for the first time since 2016.
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Charlottesville trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the ninth last week before mounting a furious comeback en route to a 5-4, walk-off win.
RECORD-SETTING DAYS:
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Kyle Edwards set a Tom Sox record in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader with his 66th career start for the team.
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Garrett Spikes sits only nine starts behind him entering tonight’s game.
MOST CAREER STARTS – TOM SOX HISTORY
SEASONS STARTS 1. Kyle Edwards 2022-23 69 2. Jack Morris 2016,18 65 3. Brian Fortier 2015-16 64 4. Garrett Spikes 2021-23 60 5. Logan Amiss 2021-22 48 -
Jordan Little set a team record with 11 strikeouts in four innings on Tuesday. Three pitchers had previously hit ten strikeouts, but he is the first to reach the teens.
MOST STRIKEOUTS IN A GAME – TOM SOX HISTORY
DATE K IP 1. Jordan Little 7/11/23 11 4.0 2. Cody Maw 6/28/18 10 5.0 Dillon Janac 6/27/21 10 5.0 Hayden McCutcheon 6/30/15 10 5.0
SPEEDY ‘SOX:
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The Tom Sox have stolen 101 bases in their first 29 games, the most over that span in franchise history.
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The 2023 team has sole possession of second place in team history in single-season stolen bases. They now only trail the 2021 team, who stole 110 in 2021:
SB GAMES 1. 2021 110 42 2. 2023 101 29 3. 2017 66 49 2022 66 48 5. 2018 47 48 -
The 2023 ‘Sox now own the top three stolen base days in team history, stealing nine in game two against Covington, ten on June 9 at Harrisonburg, and eight on June 18 (tied with one other).
MOST STOLEN BASES – SINGLE GAME
OPPONENT DATE SB 1. at Harrisonburg 6/9/23 10 2. at Covington 6/2/23 9 3. at Woodstock 6/6/21 8 at Culpeper 6/18/23 8 5. at Woodstock 6/7/23 7 at Harrisonburg 6/29/21 7 -
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.
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This season, the ‘Sox have six games with 6+ stolen bases after having only six such games in their first seven seasons (322 games).
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They were not caught stealing over their first seven games, the longest streak without being caught to begin a season in team history.
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The Tom Sox have not stolen more than three bases in a game since July 3, a streak of eight games.
SHUTDOWN ARMS:
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The Tom Sox lead the Valley League in virtually every major pitching stat with a 3.46 ERA, .200 opponent average, 4.4 BB/9, 11.1 K/9, and a 2.6 strikeout to walk ratio.
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‘Sox pitchers have allowed four or fewer runs in 19 of 29 games. They have not allowed double-digit runs in a game this season.
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The Tom Sox have not allowed more than eight runs at home this season.
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Seven total pitchers have allowed one or no runs this season.
SAME FACES, NEW PLACES:
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15 total Tom Sox players (active and inactive) entered the season with the intent to transfer (either in the transfer portal or transferring from JUCO), with eight of them finding destinations as of Thursday morning (July 13).
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The ‘Sox who have publicly committed to new schools include Josh Tate (Georgia Southern), Nathan Fink (Florida Southwestern JC), Jordan Little (Virginia Tech), David Utagawa (UC Irvine), Henry Hardie (High Point), Salvy Alvarez (Florida Southwestern JC), Ryan Keenan (Georgetown), and Lucas Cash (Wake Tech CC).
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A total of 24 players on this season’s overall roster have either transferred or are currently in the transfer portal.
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Editor’s note: All players who are listed in the transfer portal without a final destination are either listed in the D1Baseball Transfer Tracker or have graduated from their junior college/4-year college.
PRO SOX:
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Ten former Tom Sox players were drafted in the 2023 MLB Draft that concluded Tuesday, a new 20-round record.
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Nine of the ten picks played for the 2021 team, while two played for the 2022 team (Brady Kirtner played for both).
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Wyatt Langford became the highest Tom Sox player drafted, going fourth overall to the Rangers.
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Two ‘Sox were selected in the third round, just five picks apart from each other – Jack Hurley (80, D-Backs) and Cole Foster (85, Giants).
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Cooper Ingle went in the fourth round, 125th overall to the Guardians, while Christian Worley was the final day two pick with the 275th pick in the ninth round to the Cardinals.
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The final five were selected on day three: Brady Kirtner (12th round, 366th pick, Mets), Marty Gair (13, 403, Phillies), Elijah Nuñez (14, 405, Nationals), Garrett Wright (20, 599, White Sox), and Pierce Bennett (20, 613, Phillies).
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Three 2021 ‘Sox were selected in the 2021/22 drafts, giving the team 12 total pro picks.
SCOUTING PURCELLVILLE:
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Purcellville sits ninth in the Valley with a 14-17 overall record.
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Last night’s game at Covington was rained out.
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The Cannons started the season winning eight of their first nine games; since then, they have won only six games.
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2022 North Division MVP Ryne Guida leads the Valley in batting for the second-straight season. His 40 hits are 18 more than the second-best player on the team.
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Purcellville returns numerous players from last season’s team that made the North Division finals, including Daniel Quintana, Justin Acal, Mikey Brinton (3rd season), Luke Lyman, Jabbari Smith, Jose Torres, Guida, Bear Horowicz, Chayce Bryant, and Brady Drawbaugh.
