Bethesda sneaks out win against Senators

by Lily Stewart

ROCKVILLE, Md. — On Friday night, the Bethesda Big Train snuck out a win against the Southern Maryland Senators, 5-4, at home.

The game was a duel between the Big Train pitchers and the Senators’ hitters. The Senators struck first, putting up three runs in the second and third innings.

Reliever Joey Wimpleberg (Central Florida) entered the game in the fourth and started a span of scoreless innings for Bethesda.

“Come out there and help the team put up zeros to give us the best chance to win,” said Wimpleberg. “It came down to the defense getting a lot of ground balls, fly balls and they were just there for me.”

After two hitless innings for Wimpleberg, Southern Maryland was able to add one more run, bringing the score to 4-0 Senators.

This didn’t stop the Big Train.

Bethesda took the lead with a five-run seventh inning. Right fielder Josh Skowronski (Kentucky) started the string of runs by reaching base on a walk. Then, Jordan Crosland (Maryland) stepped up and singled, putting Skowronski in scoring position.

With two runners on, catcher Luca Perriello (Virgina Tech) stepped up, walked and loaded the bases. The first run for the Big Train scored off of a single from left fielder Jaden Bastain (Jacksonville).

Southern Maryland brought in a reliever to try and stop the Big Train, but center fielder Andrew Williamson (Central Florida) adding another walk to bring home Crosland.

Third baseman Davin Whitaker (East Carolina) brought home two runners with a single, tying the game 4-4.

Williamson was the winning run with first baseman Emilio Gonzalez (Florida Atlantic) up to bat. Gonzalez singled to center field and Williamson scored the go-ahead run.

“It felt good, boosted my confidence a little bit and now hopefully we can get rolling,” said Gonzalez. “I feel like when we get momentum going from the dugout and a few guys get hits, one guy gets rolling, and from there on we just score a lot of runs.”

Pitchers Aden Ritenour (Shepherd) and Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic) were able to come in and seal the deal for the Big Train. The Big Train is back in action Saturday night at Shirley Povich Field to face the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

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Notes: On a blistering hot Saturday night, 292 fans turned out for Pop Star Night…. Players from the Montgomery County Little League Nationals coached by Jeff Perkins took the field with the Big Train players for the National Anthem…. Big Train honored Open Door Sports as our Community Hero group and founder Sarah Albus with an individual Community Hero Award.