Bellis, Gonzalez Take Home League Awards; More Selected to All-League Teams

Owen Stewart (left), Drew Bellis (middle) and Emilio Gonzalez (right) by Mark Thalman

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League announced its two award winners and released the first and second teams for the 2025 season. The Bethesda Big Train swept the two honors with many more named to the first or second teams. First baseman Emilio Gonzalez (Nova Southeastern University) and starting pitcher Drew Bellis (University of Central Florida) were named the hitter and pitcher of the year respectively. 

Gonzalez was a slam dunk option to win the Hitter of the Year award. The slugger captured the league’s first ever triple crown. He hit .418 with five homers and 41 RBIs. His average was 38 points higher than the next highest mark. Nobody else recorded over 30 RBIs for the season. Although the first baseman was consistent throughout the summer in the cleanup slot, he took his game to another level down the stretch. On July 20 against the Alexandria Aces, Gonzalez belted two long balls and added six RBIs. The very next day versus the Metro South County Braves, he smashed another home run and tallied six more RBIs for a dozen in a two-day span. He finished with nine total hits over that stretch. 

“All the hours in the cages,” Gonzalez said after the game against the Aces as his biggest reason for success. "Everyone would clown me for being in the cages for so long, but it’s really just the work I put in, that’s all that’s clicked.”

Emilio Gonzalez by Mark Thalman

His 1.124 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) led the league among players with at least three plate appearances. He also finished first in slugging among qualifiers at .631 and runs created at over 38. Gonzalez hopes to carry his strong summer with him to Nova Southeastern after he transferred from Florida Atlantic University this past summer. 

“I changed my swing path a little bit because I was really pushing at the ball, but now, I’m getting to the slot to hit for more power and hit the ball harder,” Gonzalez said during the season.

The Big Train had two very worthy candidates to take home Pitcher of the Year in Bellis and Kide Adetuyi (Florida Atlantic University). Bellis ultimately took home the hardware thanks to his record-breaking season. The southpaw set the Cal Ripken Sr. League single-season strikeout record with 61 punchouts. He finished the summer with a 2.84 ERA and a .203 batting average against. Bellis always reminds himself to not take things too seriously, as he likes to keep things light when he’s on the mound. 

“I’m here for a reason,” Bellis said. “I don’t need to tweak something every single time I play catch…. I like to go out there and have the mindset of this is a kid’s game.”

Bellis’ most dominant start came on July 13 against the Braves. The lefty tossed five shutout innings and racked up 10 strikeouts. He only surrendered three hits and did not issue a single walk. Two weeks earlier versus the Southern Maryland Senators, he pitched 4.2 frames and only allowed one unearned run. He tallied 11 punchouts in the contest. His highest strikeout total came against the Aces in just his second start of the season. Bellis picked up 12 strikeouts in that appearance. The UCF sophomore didn’t allow more than three runs in any of his appearances. He allowed zero earned runs in half of his regular season outings. 

“I’m not going to put more pressure on myself,” Bellis said after his performance against the Braves. “I stayed calm and just focused on one pitch at a time.”

Drew Bellis by Mark Thalman

In addition to the two award winners, eight members of the Big Train were named First Team All-League. Brennon Wright (University of South Alabama) joined Gonzalez in the infield. The middle infielder reached base in every game he played in during the season. Alex Peltier (East Carolina University) and Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University) were among the outfielders selected to the team. Peltier’s selection comes after the centerfielder took home Championship Series MVP honors. He blasted his first home run of the season in the series. 

“My goals were to build off of my college season,” Peltier said after the championship. “[Winning MVP] is a testament to all the hard work that I’ve been putting in.”

Like Gonzalez, Skowronski also had a multi-homer game during the regular season. His two-homer effort on June 30 against the Braves propelled the Big Train to an exciting 15-13 victory in extra innings. His second long ball of the night proved to be the difference in the 10th inning. 

On the pitching side of things, Adetuyi made the first team as a starter alongside Bellis. Adetuyi led the league with a 0.31 ERA and did not give up a run during the regular season after his first appearance. His best outing of the summer came on June 24 versus the Braves. The southpaw threw five shutout innings and recorded a season-high nine strikeouts. He only allowed one hit in the start. 

“I’m going to try to attack you,” Adetuyi said. “I may not overpower you, but I might deceive you enough to get you [out].”

The Big Train added two more pitchers to the first team. James Gladden (University of Maryland) and Owen Stewart (George Mason University) were among the best relievers in the league. Stewart became a relief ace, as he did not surrender a run until the middle of July. He also threw four heroic innings to save the bullpen in the aforementioned 15-13 win against the Braves. Gladden got stronger and stronger as the season progressed. He gave up just one run after his first appearance of the year. He became a dominant back-end option and closer. Gladden and Stewart formed a two-headed monster at the back of Sal Colangelo’s bullpen. 

Matt Westley (undecided) made Second Team All-League as a utility man. His lone home run was the difference in a tight 2-1 victory over the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts. He was a reliable bat all season that could be plugged in anywhere in the lineup. He also gave his team flexibility with his ability to line up all over the diamond.