Cuevas gets first homer in win

Big Train 14, Redbirds 5

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After three innings of play Saturday afternoon at Spalding HS the score was tied at zero, and it looked like another pitchers' duel. Starting pitchers Adam Redd (Virginia Tech) for the Big Train and Dan Oleynik (Salisbury) for the Redbirds came into the game with identical 3-0 records. But Oleynik exited eight batters later thanks to a botched pick-off and a superb at-bat by Drew Carson (Southern Mississippi). Andrew Smith (San Francisco) and Greg Lemon (Salisbury) led off the top of the fourth with singles. Rhett Teller (St. Leo's) walked to load the bases. It would have been hard for Carson to have come to the plate without thinking about the possibility of a grand slam over the extremely short porch in leftfield. But with two strikes, Carson fouled off several pitches and then poked a line drive single to centerfield to give Bethesda a 2-0 lead. Nick Cleckler (Jacksonville State) singled home Teller, and Steve Fay (Mt. St. Mary's) singled home Cleckler to give Bethesda a 4-0 advantage.

The Redbirds got one back in the bottom of the fourth. Trey Cuevas (Southern Mississippi) hit a home run in the sixth, and the Redbirds countered with a run in the bottom of the inning to close the deficit to 5-2. Four more Big Train runs in the seventh put the game in the win column for Bethesda. The final score was 14-5. Smith led the Big Train hit parade going 3-for-6 with two doubles, three runs scored, and two RBI. Cleckler, Lemon, and Fay each had two hits. Carson, Cleckler, Cuevas, Fay, and Teller each had two RBI. Jonnie Knoble (San Francisco) led off the seventh and eighth innings with walks and scored in both innings. Redd went six innings for his fourth win allowing eight hits and two runs while striking out five.

The Big Train win on Saturday afternoon pulled Bethesda back into a tie for first place with the Orioles. A loss to the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts on Saturday night at Blair Stadium ended the Orioles five game win streak and put the Train back on top. Bethesda has a three day mid-season break and will next play Wednesday night at Povich Field. The Orioles can regain first place on Sunday if they can sweep a doubleheader with the College Park Bombers.

Bethesda Big Train (16-9) 0 0 0 4 0 1 4 2 3 -- 14 15 1
Maryland Redbirds (9-14) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 -- 5 12 2
WP: Redd (4-0); LP: Oleynik (3-1)
HR: Cuevas (BBT) (1); 2B: Smith (BBT), Lemon (BBT), Smith (BBT)
Attendance: 45
Time: 3 hours and 21 minutes

Big Train Notes: In golf they play medal and match competitions. This week the Big Train would have preferred medal play, outscoring opponents 37 to 13 but losing 3 of the 5 contests. The wins were 19-1 and 14-5 while the losses were all by one run, 2-1, 4-3, and 1-0... With Saturday's win, the Big Train holds a 6-0 advantage over the Redbirds this season. We are 4-1 against the Rockville Express. We have split six games with the Maryland Orioles and four games with the Silver Spring-Takoma T'Bolts. The College Park Bombers have defeated the Big Train in three of four games... There were bugs at Spalding HS Saturday afternoon the size of a small bird. They deserved to be in a zoo or at least on a leash.