Purcellville Cannons vs. Charlottesville TomSox Recap, (7/7/2023) – By: Lauren Fulton
After a much-needed holiday break, the Cannons took the field together again in the heart of Charlottesville back at CHO Airport Field last night. Although the Cannons couldn’t walk away with a win, this was the first time in a long while that the boys truly played together and did the little things necessary to maintain the lead for almost the entire game. Even though we suffered another loss, what’s important to gather from this game is that after the break, the boys came back together as the Cannons team we knew from the beginning of the season. They played as a team full of newcomers and veterans who each knew they wanted to get back on a winning streak – hopefully within the next few games, they can continue this energy and hopefully walk away with a couple of wins underneath their belt heading towards playoffs.
Our starting pitcher for the evening was Noah Ingle, (JR; North Greenville University), who pitched for 4.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 3 walks, and no earned runs scored. Ingle also had 5 strikeouts on the evening, which is one of the best starting pitcher performances the Cannons have had in a good amount of time. Ingle was then relieved halfway through the fourth by Jabbari Smith, (SR; undecided), who then pitched for an additional 3.1 innings giving up just 2 hits, 3 walks, and 2 earned runs. Smith also had 5 strikeouts on the evening, complimenting Ingle’s performance, and keeping the Cannons steady from the mound. Our next pitcher for the evening was Andrew Washington, (SR; Georgia Gwinnett College), who pitched for 0.1 innings, giving up 1 hit with 3 walks, allowing 3 earned runs to score, unfortunately making him the “losing” pitcher for the evening. Our final pitcher was RJ Watanabe, (JR; Coffeyville Community College), who went in for 1 batter, as the TomSox walked it off. All in all, our pitchers performed way better than they had been prior to this season, so looking back, there were a lot of positives for the pitching staff to build off of, heading into their doubleheader with Winchester.
Our defense for the evening performed very well, allowing just 1 error the whole evening, and working well behind the pitching staff. Our catcher for the evening was Jose Torres, (SR; University of Louisiana Lafayette), playing first base was Bear Horowicz, (SO; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill), playing second base was Caleb Stewart, (JR; Georgia State University), at shortstop was Brayden Caskey, (JR; Arkansas State University), and rounding off the infield was Keegan Knustson, (SO; San Jacinto College North) at third base. Our outfielders for the evening were Chayce Bryant, (SR; Southeastern University) in left field, Brady Drawbaugh, (SR; Mt. St. Mary’s University) in centerfield, and Jo Eichelberger, (JR; Jackson State University) in right field.
Our offensive player of the evening was without a doubt Brayden Caskey, who went 3 for 5 at the plate with just 1 strikeout on the evening. Caskey did a great job supplying himself as a baserunner multiple times throughout the evening, allowing his teammates to move him around the bases. Jose Torres also had a good night at the plate going 2 for 4 with 2 hits and 1 walk. Chayce Bryant also had himself a night at the plate hitting his first home run of the season, in a clutch RBI situation.
The Cannons will hit the road once again tomorrow for their last back-to-back away series against the Winchester Royals. The boys will play a doubleheader with the first game starting at 4:30 pm, and the second game starting at 7:00 pm. The Cannons will then return back to Fireman’s Field on Saturday, July 8th to take on the Staunton Braves. We can’t wait to celebrate their return back to the heart of Purcellville this weekend with y’all!