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Schneider Goes to 6-0, Big Train Fend off Express

Friday, July 25, 2008
by Will Sisco and David Biel
e-mail the Big Train writers at writers@bigtrain.org!
Box Score

In front of a season-high crowd of 911 at Povich, the Bethesda Big Train got back to their winning ways as they defeated the Rockville Express, 7-5.

The Express took the early 1-0 lead as they got on the board in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by designated hitter Adam Bryant and rightfielder Kevin McAvoy.

The Big Train came back with a run of their own in the bottom of third inning. Shortstop Drew Lee (Morehead State) led off the inning with a crushed double to right-center. A single by rightfielder Ben Jones (Auburn) advanced Lee to third before centerfielder Zach Kim (San Francisco) drove him in with a single through the right side of the infield.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Big Train tacked on two more runs to take the lead. Second baseman Jordan King (Meridian CC) led off with a single. Leftfielder Luke Adkins (Mississippi State) then walked and designated hitter Michael Cipolla (Saint Mary's CA) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. King then came into score on a wild pitch and Adkins later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Jones.

The Express came back with two runs in the fifth to tie the game at three, but the Big Train followed that up with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Catcher Ryan Mulligan (Saint Mary's) led off with a walk before third baseman Steven Leach (Jacksonville State) reached on a fielder's choice. First baseman Danny Stienstra (San Jose State) then singled into center to drive in both runners before King drove in Stienstra with a single of his own into left. Later in the inning, Cipolla plated the fourth run of the inning with a double to right to drive in King.

The Express came back once again as they scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning on four hits and a walk to make the score 7-5.

Despite giving up his first two walks of the season, Matt Hiserman (San Francisco) earned his league-leading tenth save of the season. Although the two walks made the outing seem exponentially worse than any he's had so far on the season, Hiserman kept his scoreless innings streak alive, as he now hasn't given up a run in 32.2 innings this season. If Hiserman doesn't allow a run Saturday or Sunday, he'll be the first player in Big Train and league history to have a 0.00 ERA on the season.

"As a manager, it's great to know you have a closer who'll be able to come in and close the door," manager Sal Colangelo said.

Hiserman isn't the only Big Train player pursuing a record. With his two hits tonight, Stienstra is now batting .403 in the season. He needs only one hit to tie Bert Smith for the Big Train all-time record, and two to take the lead.

Barring a catastrophic collapse, Stienstra has also essentially clinched the all-time league record for batting average, formerly .371, and is just four hits shy of tying the league record with two games remaining.

"[Finishing the season .400] would obviously be a great accomplishment, especially for him," Colangelo said.

Game Notes: Tonight was Picture and Autograph Night. Fans were allowed on the field at 7:00 to take pictures and get autographs of their favorite Big Train players...Tonight's game was sponsored by Chevy Chase Bank...The Non-Profit of the Night was Class Acts Arts, an outreach organization dedicated to bringing educational and culturally-diverse art experiences to schools and communities in the Metro area.