Friday, July 22, 2022
John Breeden
Harrisonburg, VA
The Harrisonburg Turks weren’t able to leave Charlottesville with a win as they lost both games to the Tom Sox in Thursday’s doubleheader at Charlottesville High School. They lost game one 15-4 after eight innings and lost game two 10-7.
Game one
The Tom Sox had their bats going early with three hits in the bottom of the first — including a triple from Christian Martin (Virginia Tech). Martin scored off an RBI single from Carter Cunningham (East Carolina U).
The Turks took a commanding lead in the top of the fourth by scoring three runs. Center fielder Sam Schner (Florida Tech) scored on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Jaylon Lee (JMU). Third baseman Christian Ficca (Georgetown) drove in a run on his first triple of the season and right fielder T.J. Williams (Notre Dame) added to the scoreboard with an RBI single.
The Tom Sox fired back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth — three of those coming from Kalvin Alexander (Florida Southwestern St) who slammed a three-run home run.
Pitcher Matt Kleinfelter (JMU) was taken off the mound in this inning after throwing 4.2 innings and tossing
four strikeouts.
Ficca contributed to the scoreboard again in the top of the sixth as he drove in Lee on an RBI double, but the Turks gave the run back in the bottom of the sixth after Kyle Edwards (ODU) scored on a catcher’s error. With two outs and the bases loaded, Matthew Prevesk (Florida) ripped one to center field for a two-RBI single.
Things got worse for the Turks this inning as Evan Smith (JMU) stepped onto the mound and walked his first batter — forcing another run home. Edwards was up next and drove in another Tom Sox run. Smith then walked Martin to force another run home — Charlottesville’s sixth run of the inning.
Harrisonburg’s woes continued as the Tom Sox bagged their 12th run of the game in the bottom of the seventh after Wagner scored on an RBI groundout. Carlos Perez (Miami) took the mound for Harrisonburg in the bottom of the eighth.
The Tom Sox won the game this inning on a three-run home run from Wagner.
Game two
The Turks salvaged a four-run inning in the top of the second. Second baseman Matthew Mamatas (Georgia Southwestern St) drove in Ficca on an RBI single. Schner got two runners to score on a single and Farris launched a ground-rule double to right field for an RBI.
Charlottesville got on the board in the bottom of the third on an RBI single from Logan Amiss (VCU).
The Tom Sox knotted the game at four in the bottom of the fourth by scoring three runs — including a two-RBI triple from Wagner.
The Turks regained the lead in the top of the sixth when Ficca scored on a sacrifice fly. First baseman Mitch Farris (Wingate) increased the lead to two in the top of the seventh by scoring on a passed ball.
The game was tied up again in the bottom of the seventh after a two-run homer from Alexander — his second home run of the day. Charlottesville took the lead back in the bottom of the eighth after Julian Rojas (Radford) scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Turks stayed in the game at the top of the ninth when Brenden Vern (College of Central Florida) scored off an RBI double from Williams.
Garrett Warden (West Virginia Tech) took the mound for Harrisonburg in the bottom of the ninth and threw a strikeout, but a three-run walk-off home run from Gavin Abrams (Clemson) gave the Tom Sox the 10-7 win.
The Turks return home to host the Staunton Braves Friday at 7:30 p.m. They host the Waynesboro Generals Saturday at 7:30 p.m