So what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? This was my thought as the Charlottesville Tom Sox were set to host the red-hot New Market Rebels, owners of an 11 game winning streak, in game one of the Valley League finals tonight. The Tom Sox had the best pitching in the regular season, led by the pitcher of the year Jared Wetherbee, while the Rebels had the best offense, with a murderer’s row of Andrew Eyster, Chase Sudduth, and Oraj Anu.
Well, the results from the first game are in, and the best offense took round one, as the Rebels pounded the Tom Sox, 16-4.
Charlottesville seemed to be the team ready to explode, though, as the team took a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to four hits in a row to start the game (Garrett Jones, Zac Ching, Patrick McColl, and Kirby McMullen), and then a 2-out RBI single from Will Allocca.
But the Rebels answered with 4 runs in the second… and then 4 in the fourth…. and then 3 in the fifth… and 5 more in the 7th. The Rebels hit doubles down the line, singles up the middle, doubles that were lost in the lights, singles that should have been doubles but the batter slipped heading into first (Eyster), and walked 8 times and had 2 hit-by-pitches for good measure.
The murderer’s row went 9-16, with 6 runs, 7 RBIs, 2 walks, 2 doubles, and a triple. The three were helped out by Austin Bogart’s 3-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, and Drake May’s 3-5 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs. But truly, it was a team effort, as all 9 of the Rebels’ lineup reached base at least twice.
Sean McCracken was saddled with the loss, while Chase Anderson got the win after settling down after that rough first inning.
The teams head to New Market tomorrow for game 2, when we’ll see if the better pitching can hold down this team that can’t seem to be stopped. Or moved?
