Tuesday, July 19, 2022
John Breeden
Harrisonburg, VA

The Harrisonburg Turks’ four-game winning streak was snapped Monday night after losing 11-6 to the Charlottesville Tom Sox at Veterans Memorial Park.

Third baseman Christian Ficca said there were a few costly fielding errors and Charlottesville knows how to swing the bats. “I don’t think it’s anything to shake your head at, Charlottesville’s a good team,” Ficca said. “We put up six runs on seven hits, that’s not really a night to be mad about.”

Noticeably missing from the Turks lineup Monday night was shortstop Seaver King (Wingate) who was out due to illness.

This led to an unusual look in the Harrisonburg defensive lineup. Matthew Mamatas replaced King as the starting shortstop.

“We love having Seaver at shortstop, he’s a heck of a defender [and] hits well,” Ficca said. “It’s definitely an adjustment but it’s nothing we really can’t handle.”

Center fielder Sam Schner (Florida Tech) notched his 33rd hit of the summer with a leadoff double in the bottom of the first — and later scored on an RBI groundout from the first baseman Mitch Farris (Wingate).

The Turks got behind in the bottom of the third after Charlottesville’s center fielder Trey Yunger (Wofford) hit a two-RBI single.

Farris knotted the game at two in the bottom of the third after he drove in Mamatas (Georgia Southwestern St) on an RBI double. Catcher Jake Stadler cranked one to center field for a single in the bottom of the fifth and scored off a sacrifice bunt from Mamatas. Mamatas scored on an RBI groundout from right fielder T.J. Williams (Notre Dame).

The Turks continued to fire away in the bottom of the fifth as Farris hit a two-out double and scored on an RBI single from designated hitter Mike Rosario (Miami).

They found themselves in a tough spot defensively in the top of the sixth with the bases loaded and one out.

Charlottesville’s designated hitter Carter Cunningham (East Carolina) hit a two-RBI single. Left fielder Satchell Norman (Florida Southwestern St) scored on a Turk’s fielding error to tie the game but pitcher Sammy Cooper (Notre Dame) rang up the next batter to get the Turks out of the inning.

The Tom Sox took their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh after second baseman Christian Martin (Virginia Tech) hit a two-RBI single. The Turks went down by three in the same inning after Martin scored on a fielder’s choice.

The Turks cut the lead to two in the bottom of the eighth when Schner drove in Ficca (Georgetown) on a single, but the Tom Sox extended their lead to four in the top of the ninth on two sacrifice flies. First baseman Cole Wagner bagged the Tom Sox’s 14th hit of the game to drive in another run.

Harrisonburg couldn’t mount a comeback in the ninth and took the 11-6 loss.