Bellis and Big Train Pitching Dazzle en route to 3-1 Victory over Thunderbolts

Matt Westley and Emilio Gonzalez by Andrew Weitzel

Drew Bellis (University of Central Florida) shined  in his three innings of work and led the way for the Bethesda Big Train’s pitching staff to shut down the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts’ offense in a 3-1 win. 

“Bellis set the tone,” Sal Colangelo said. “He worked ahead. We preach 65%-70% first pitch strikes. He had good tempo, good rhythm out there.” 

Bellis had his wipeout stuff working early. The left-hander struck two of the first three Thunderbolts. After a two-out walk put runners on first and second, the UCF sophomore geared up, got back in the zone and struck out second baseman Nolan Kutney to get out of the jam. 

“I knew I needed to slow it down,” Bellis said. “I knew I wasn’t going to get beat by them. The only [way for them to hit me was] I was going to beat myself.”

Bellis dominated in his final two innings of work. He retired seven of the final eight batters he faced and finished with six strikeouts in three innings.  

“[I was able to] fill up [the strike zone] and get ahead and put guys away as fast as possible,” Bellis said.

Drew Bellis by Andrew Weitzel

Colangelo had Bellis’ best interest, as he pulled him after three innings despite his dominant start. 

“In summer ball, it’s about getting your work in,” Colangelo said. “We’re not going to run guys up to 70, 80, 90 pitches, especially early on. Their career is the most important thing. I’ll lose before I jeopardize their careers.”

In the bottom of the fourth, with the game still scoreless, Adekide Adetuyi (Florida Atlantic University) entered in relief for Bellis and had early control issues. The Florida native walked Kutney, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Adetuyi allowed the run to score on Steve Thomas’ single to right field. Later in the fourth inning, the Thunderbolts threatened to add more. Josh Erd singled to the right fielder Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University). Skowronski came up firing and threw an on-target bullet to get Brady Grimes at home, which kept the deficit at 1-0. 

Just a half inning later, in the top of the fifth, the Big Train capitalized on defensive miscues by the Thunderbolts. Third baseman Logan Ponnett (University of North Carolina Charlotte) singled and Matt Westley (undecided) reached on an error by Kutney. With two men on, the Big Train executed a perfect double steal. Thunderbolts catcher Jack McCarthy’s throw to third collided with the sliding Ponnett, sending the ball into the outfield and allowing Ponnett to race home and tie the game. Later in the frame, McCarthy was charged with a passed ball, and Westley capitalized to give the Big Train a 2-1 lead. 

Matt Westley by Andrew Weitzel

Once the Big Train offense handed Adetuyi the lead, he settled in and didn’t look back. The southpaw proceeded to strike out the side in the fifth and retired the Thunderbolts in order to close out the sixth and his night. 

Tanner Kaler (University of North Carolina Charlotte) got the call for both the seventh and eighth innings. The junior struck out three around a two-out walk in the seventh and retired the side in the eighth. 

In the top of the eighth, the Big Train clung to a one-run lead. Catcher Jacob Hauk (University of Maryland) led off with a single to turn the lineup over. Later in the inning, John Martinez (Florida Atlantic University) provided a clutch two-out hit that allowed Hauk to score and gave his team a big insurance run.

For the first time this season, the Big Train started the ninth inning with the lead. Kaler came out for his third inning of work but surrendered a double to Grimes and walked Thomas, which brought the winning run to the plate for the Thunderbolts. 

Colangelo made one last call to the bullpen and signaled for Owen Stewart (George Mason University) to get the final two outs. The lone Big Train right hander to pitch Friday got Erd to flyout. Stewart then faced Caleb Sturtevant, who had struck out four times already. Stewart made quick work of the Thunderbolts’ leadoff man, as he struck him out to secure the Big Train’s first win of the young season. The strikeout was the Big Train’s 15th team strikeout of the contest. 

“We’re just an extension of the programs we get guys from,” Colangelo said. “We want to help make these kids better, so when they go back to school, they can help their schools win.” 

The Big Train will go for back-to-back wins when they travel to play the Gaithersburg Giants today at 4 p.m. The Big Train will return home to face the Metro South County Braves tomorrow at 10 a.m.