By Scott Guinn / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
The Charlottesville Tom Sox battled late into the night against the Harrisonburg Turks on Thursday at C-Ville Weekly Ballpark in a game that went eleven innings before declaring a victor.
With runners on second and third and no outs in the top of the eleventh, the Turks’ Steven McClean hit into what could have been an easy double play, but a throwing error gave the Turks a 2-1 lead which was enough to vault Harrisonburg to the win.
The Tom Sox led nearly the entire game after Colton Konvicka knocked in an RBI double in the bottom of the second. In the top of the eighth, an error allowed the Turks’ Jared Baker to safely reach first base. A sacrifice bunt followed by a well-hit double by Kameron Esthay broke the shutout and tied the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the ninth with one out and the winning run in scoring position, the Tom Sox had a great opportunity to end the game. Seth Lancaster smacked a ball down the first base line to cheers from the crowd with what would have been a walk-off single but the umpire called it just foul. Turks reliever Patrick Herbelin then came up with two crucial strikeouts to send the game into extra innings.
“We had a couple of glaring errors. We need to be better there,” Goldberg said.
But the effort and intensity was there.
“They played well, they need to bring that 100 percent effort every time because even when you bring 100 percent effort sometimes you’re not going to win,” Goldberg said.
This was the sixth and final regular season matchup between the league leading Harrisonburg Turks (29-11) and the Charlottesville Tom Sox (17-22). The Turks have now won all six meetings.
With three games left in the regular season, the Tom Sox currently sit at fourth in the division and only one game ahead of the Covington Lumberjacks who also lost on Thursday night. As only the top four teams in each division receive playoff bids, the Tom Sox will need to be at their best if they hope to extend their season. They will face the Lumberjacks Friday night in Covington in what could very well be the deciding game for these two teams.
For Goldberg and the Tom Sox, the main goal remains the same despite the situation in the standings.
“The goal of this is still for guys to get better and for them to develop,” Goldberg said. “If we make the playoffs it will be a reflection of how much they’ve developed and how much better they’ve gotten since they got here.”
