Big Train 16, Thunderbolts 2

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By Andy Ireland
Big Train Staff Writer

What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday night, the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts roared into Povich Field and swept a doubleheader to derail the Big Train and knock them out of first place in the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. This Sunday night at Blair Stadium, the Big Train express was in full gear as Bethesda topped Silver Spring 16-2 to pull into a virtual tie for first in The Montgomery Cup championship.

The Big Train won their third game in a row and their fifth in six games. The away team felt at home due to the loud cheers of Bethesda supporters who made the trip to Montgomery Blair Stadium to pull for their Boys of Summer. As the night wore on, the temperature got cooler but the Big Train bats remained hot, pounding out 19 hits.

The Big Train got their offense started early by scoring in the top of the first when third baseman Bryan Thomas (Virginia Tech) reached on a T-Bolt error, scoring second baseman Greg Lemon (Salisbury) who had walked earlier. Centerfielder Jonnie Knoble (San Francisco) knocked in another run in the second inning before first baseman Rhett Teller (Saint Leo) laced an RBI double to leftfield giving the Big Train a 3-1 lead. Thunderbolts starting pitcher Matt Peterson (Salisbury) continued to struggle in the third inning. A critical error led to five unearned runs and an 8-1 Bethesda advantage.

Big Train hitters smashed the ball all night long refusing to give in to the T'Bolt pitching staff. Leftfielder Drew Carson's (Southern Miss) triple highlighted the Big Train's four-run rally in the fifth inning. Bethesda would add three more runs in the game on a sac fly, a fielder's choice and a ground out. "[Our hitting] was outstanding," commented Big Train Manager Sal Colangelo, "we had a great approach [to hitting] tonight."

Starting pitcher Derek Caldwell (Rider) gave a more than adequate performance Sunday night, tossing five sound innings while only yielding one run on three hits. Caldwell picked up his fourth win of the season and lowered his ERA to an outstanding 1.00. Big Train relievers Chris Eberhart (Florida Atlantic), Jimmy Kelly (Middle Tennessee State), Dan Bajger (Columbia), and Brett Tidball (Maryland) combined to give up one run in four innings of relief duty.

It was apparent that Colangelo felt satisfied with the Big Train victory but recognized there is still a lot of the season to be played. "We've got to keep playing hard," Colangelo responded when asked about the fate of this year's club, "If we do that, everything else will take care of itself."

Bethesda Big Train (21-14) 1 2 5 1 4 0 1 1 1 - 16 19 0
SS-T Thunderbolts (13-15) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 2 4 4

WP: Caldwell (4-1) LP: Peterson (0-3)
3B: Carson (BBT); 2B: Cuevas (BBT), Teller (BBT), Carson (BBT), Thomas (BBT)
Attendance: 167
Time: 2 hours and 54 minutes

Bethesda Big Train hit parade: Knoble 0 for 2, one run, two RBI; Beamer 1 for 2, one run; Cleckler 2 for 5 with one run; Lemon 3 for 3 with three walks, three runs, and one RBI; Teller 3 for 5 with three RBI; Smith 2 for 5 with one run and one RBI; Thomas 2 for 6 with four runs and one RBI; Carson 3 for 6 with two runs and two RBI; Cuevas 2 for 4 with two runs and three RBI; and Hoeflich 1 for 4 with one run.

Big Train Notes: 12 of the first 13 Big Train batters reached base (HBP, FC, W, HBP, W, E-6, 6-3, 2B, W, FC, 1B, W, 2B)... Carson missed hitting for the cycle by just a few feet. He had a triple, double, and single and hit a fly ball to the warning track in LCF in the seventh inning... Lemon reached base in all six at-bats with three hits and three walks... Thomas reached in five of his six at-bats, three times on errors... The storm that blew through the region early Saturday morning knocked over part of the fence in deep centerfield at Blair Stadium. Fortunately, it is well over 400' to center and no balls were hit to the part of the fence that blew over. Two of Drew Carson's blasts were just to the side of the damaged area.