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BETHESDA BIG TRAIN
Summer Collegiate Baseball
Big Train Battles, Falls 5-3 to Gaithersburg
Emilio Gonzalez by Matthew Lewyn
BETHESDA, Md. — The Big Train (1-2) aimed to return to the win column with a game on Thursday night against the Gaithersburg Giants (3-0) following a tough 13-7 loss against the Olney Cropdusters Wednesday night. Despite mounting a late comeback in the top of the eighth inning, Bethesda could not grasp the lead, falling 5-3 to the Giants.
Head Coach Sal Colangelo could not lead the team on the field on Thursday night following his ejection from Wednesday night’s game, but that did not stop Associate Head Coach Galvin Morris from stepping up and leading the Big Train in his ninth season with the team.
“We just gotta keep doing what we’re doing,” Morris said. “We got no excuses. We're fine, we’re in good shape.”
The Big Train came out swinging in the first inning, as shortstop Cal Johnson (University of Maryland) fired one deep to left field that bounced off the glove of the Giant for an error, putting Johnson on second base.
Crucially for a short-staffed Bethesda bullpen, left-handed pitcher Nathan Bishop (College of Southern Maryland) took the mound for his Big Train debut. The Bristow, Va. native forced a groundout against his first batter, and struck out the next two for a solid first impression.
The second inning saw more of the same for the Big Train, as this time catcher Parker Corbin (University of Maryland) drove one deep into right field during his first at-bat of the season, bouncing off the wall for a double.
To round out the second inning, Bishop found himself in a hole with the bases loaded and no outs. Despite two runs scoring on walks to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead, Bishop bounced back and struck out three Giants to mitigate the damage, bringing his total to five strikeouts through the first two innings.
Johnson continued his solid offensive evening in the third inning with a hard-hit ball past the third baseman for a double, but once again found himself stranded as the Big Train could not bring him home.
To close out the third inning, Bishop put the Giants down in order and only gave up one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gaithersburg held a 3-0 lead when Bishop was taken out. Bishop threw 84 pitches over 4.1 innings Thursday night, tallying 46 strikes and six strikeouts.
“[Bishop] did well, he got the job done, I tip my hat to him, he did well,” Morris said following the performance.
Relieving Bishop for Big Train was right hander Kyser Smith (Florida Atlantic University). Smith entered with runners on second and third, but closed out the inning with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the Big Train deficit at 3.
Both sides saw a quiet sixth inning with efficient pitching from Smith, who forced a pop out for the first out of the inning and struck out the next two batters he saw. However, the bats came back alive at the top of the seventh for the Big Train as Ryan Foscolo (University of Kentucky) fired a ball deep into center field for a double.
Corbin, the next batter up, smashed another ball to almost the same spot, and even though the ball did not drop in time, Foscolo managed to sprint around third base and score to close the lead to 3-1 for the Giants.
The Big Train batters remained patient, allowing right fielder Will Haacke (James Madison University) and third baseman Casey Carpenter (UNC Wilmington) to walk, putting the tying run on first base with only one out. The Big Train stranded these runners, holding the score at 3-1.
Shortstop Daniel Machado (Florida Atlantic University) kicked off at the top of the eighth inning with a rocket off the centerfield fence for a double. First baseman Emilio Gonzalez (Nova Southeastern University) followed Machado onto the bases after getting hit by a pitch, and Foscolo stepped up to the plate with the tying run again on first base.
Foscolo delivered, driving a single to the right side, and following errors at first and third base, Machado walked in a run to shrink the lead to 3-2 in favor of the Giants. Adding pressure, Corbin was patient, walking on five pitches to load the bases.
Haacke flew a ball deep into left field for a sac fly, bringing the tying run, Gonzalez in to score, knotting the game at 3.
The Giants, however, recovered at the bottom of the eighth, hitting two early singles and a deep ball to center field that allowed both runners to score, bringing the score back to a two-run lead for Gaithersburg at 5-3, which is how the game would stay.
“The best thing about this sport is, we’ll play again tomorrow,” Morris said. “We started off last year one-and-four, I told the guys, ‘no panic, no stress, we’re fine’.”
Following Thursday night’s game, the Big Train will return to Shirley Povich Field Friday night to take on the Southern Maryland Senators. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m., and tickets can be purchased on the Big Train website.