CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Sam Mummau hit his first home run of the season in the tenth inning to propel the Charlottesville Tom Sox (29-14) to a 7-5 win over the Purcellville Cannons (28-15) in game one of the VBL Championship series. The ‘Sox came from behind late in the eighth and persevered in front of a loud crowd at Willie T. Barnett Field to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
“It’s all them – they’re just not going to quit and they just kept fighting and grinding,” said Head Coach Randy Tomlin. “[The game was] between two good teams that were in it to win it. We were able to get in the right situation and Sammy came up with a huge hit.”
Colby Wallace (East Carolina) got the start, looking to keep the momentum going after being a part of the offense spark in a win or home Game 3 of the South Division championship series. His three-run home run helped the Sox reign down a seven-run inning, putting them up 12-1 before going on to be victorious 19-2 and closing out the series.
Wallace’s first inning showed some fight early on. The leadoff batter walked, then three-hole hitter Jake Slade roped a single to put two men on. He was able to get speedy Kyle Johnson to fly out and Mitsuki Kohno to ground out, keeping the Cannons off the board.
Charlottesville had offense brewing in their home end of the second. Wallace and Caden Ferraro (Blinn College) led off with back-to-back walks before Cooper Blauser (Jacksonville State) moved both over with a sacrifice bunt. Nick Parham (East Carolina) hit a dribbler to first baseman David Sorg, who was looking to get Wallace at home, but he hesitated, allowing Parham to reach first and Wallace to score.
After Dean Mihos (Coastal Carolina) walked on four pitches, the first pitch to Sam Mummau (Jacksonville commit) drilled him in the back, allowing Ferraro to score and take a 2-0 lead.
In a championship series, it’s all about responding when facing early adversity, and that’s what the Cannons did with two outs and the bases loaded in the third. Mitsuki Kohno drew a bases loaded walk, cutting the Tom Sox lead to 2-1.
Ryan Hanks (Blinn College) got the call to the bullpen early in the fourth as Tomlin and Pitching Coach Adam Dofflemeyer’s strategy had turned to a bullpen game.
Purcellville’s bats awoke in the fifth inning. After a lead-off single to Slade, Johnson sent a two-run shot over the left center field wall to give Purcellville their first lead. A walk to Kohno would end Hanks’ night as Tomlin went for reinforcements again, bringing in lefty Frank Menendez (Florida).
Kohno swiped second and third base, and with two outs, came in to score on a passed ball to put Purcellville up 4-2. Menendez would induce a groundout to end the frame.
Offense was needed as Charlottesville tried to turn the page in the bottom of the inning. After two walks and a hit-by-pitch, Blauser drawed a walk to bring in Gibson and cut the lead to 4-3.
Two outs and a walk in the top of the sixth frame would end Menendez’s outing as Tomlin turned next to Garrett Mason (Virginia Tech). Mason would get Slade to fly out, ending the threat.
Tomlin turned to his shutdown closer Daniel Powell (Kennesaw State) in the eighth to keep it a one-run game, but Powell ran into trouble.
Inoue would deliver with two outs, smacking an RBI single past Gibson’s glove as Mummau came firing to the plate from left field. Sorg would beat Lavey’s tag, though, as the Cannons went back up by two.
Running out of outs, the Tom Sox knew every at-bat was valuable. After Parham walked, Mummau blooped a single to center to start building momentum. The next batter in Gibson would walk to load the bases with one out.
With the game in sight, Robbie Lavey delivered once again, lining a two-run single to the opposite field to level the game at 5-5.
“It was incredible, you know,” said Lavey when asked about his clutch moment. “We struggled early seeing the ball, so to go up there relaxed to get the job done – it was amazing.”
Kohno would walk to start the ninth, putting more pressure on Powell and the ‘Sox pitching staff. After stealing second, a Pack flyout would see him tag to third with one out. Powell was able to get out of it unscathed with a strikeout and a flyout to send it to the home half.
Blauser provided some early hope, leading off the bottom of the inning with a single to left. The hope was quickly extinguished, however, as the Cannons executed a strike-em-out, throw-em-out play to send the game to extras and quiet the ‘Sox crowd.
Tomlin turned to Ryan Grzesiak (Florida Southwestern) in the tenth, and the decision instantly paid off. Grzesiak slammed the door, facing only four batters and keeping the free runner at second base.
With Mihos as the free runner to start their half, Charlottesville was instantly provided more hope after pitcher Cullen Horowicz balked to move him to third. The balk would not prove to be the difference in the end, though.
With a 3-2 count, Mummau blasted a pitch over the left field fence to end the game and give Charlottesville the 1-0 lead in the series.
“It means a lot,” said Mummau when asked about his season. “I started off slow and now I’m picking it up as the season goes on. Now we’re at the end and I’m hitting the way I should’ve been hitting the whole year.”
“It feels good to win. That’s all I want.”
UP NEXT:
The Tom Sox will look to win their fourth league championship during a trip to Fireman’s Field on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Mummau’s walk-off home run marked Charlottesville’s third walk-off on the season, and second walk-off home run. It was their first walk-off victory since June 28.
- The Tom Sox are 2-0 in championship series when winning game one.
- The ‘Sox collected their 12th come-from-behind victory on the season.
- The two teams combined for 25 walks and 27 runners left on base across their 30 outs.
