Top pitchers battle at Blair Stadium

Thunderbolts 2, Big Train 1

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It was a masterful pitching performance by two of the league's best. The difference came down to a bobbled ball hit by the very first T'Bolt in the very first inning as Silver Spring-Takoma bested Bethesda 2-1 on Friday night before a crowd of 222 at Blair Stadium. The T'Bolt win ended the Big Train's nine game win streak.

Silver Spring starter Brett Cecil (Maryland) retired the first nine Big Train batters in order before giving up a single to Jonnie Knoble (San Francisco) in the top of the fourth inning. Cecil only gave up one run in seven innings of work. Drew Carson (Southern Mississippi) singled to lead off the seventh. Bryan Thomas (Virginia Tech) reached on a ground out force play, went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a single by Nick Cleckler (Jacksonville State), and scored on a wild pitch. Reliever Jack Lyons (GW) shut down the Big Train in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the victory.

Bethesda starter Ron Lowe (St. Leo) was almost equally effective but fell victim to a rocky beginning. In the top of the first, T'Bolt leadoff batter Andrew Greene (Furman) hit a routine come-backer to Lowe who bobbled the ball for an instant and threw late to first. Matt Capece (Bucknell) hit a double to the fence in leftfield, and Justin McClanahan (NW Shoals CC) singled Greene home. From there, Lowe allowed no hits and only three base runners through five innings. McClanahan tripled to leadoff the sixth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Russell (East Tennessee State) to give the T'Bolts a 2-0 lead. Chris Eberhart (Florida Atlantic) allowed only one hit in two innings of relief.

Bethesda Big Train (12-6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -- 1 5 1
SS-T Thunderbolts (6-9) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - -- 2 5 2

WP: Cecil (2-2); LP: Lowe (2-1); Save: Lyons (2)
3B: McClanahan (SST); 2B: Capece (SST)
Attendance: 222
Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes

Big Train Notes: Cleckler extended his hit streak to nine games.