Big Train completes series comeback with clutch 7-4 win

Connor Lehman by Mark Thalman

BOX SCORE

ROCKVILLE, Md. — With clutch bats, stifling pitching and late-inning grit, the Bethesda Big Train defeated the visiting Southern Maryland Senators 7-4 on Saturday to advance to the Ripken League championship series.

In Game 3 of its best-of-three semifinal series, the team was led by two hits — including a towering home run — from left fielder Josh Skowronski (Winthrop). On the mound, right-hander Michael Devenney (Tulane) delivered 4.2 innings without allowing an earned run. Left-hander Lucas Marrero (Lynchburg) and left-hander Connor Lehman (Alabama) combined for three scoreless frames to end the game.

The Senators scored a run against Devenney in the top of the first, but the Big Train responded with two on a big-time double from right fielder Peyton Steele (Alabama). From there, the teams traded scoreless frames, with left-hander Tanner Kaler (North Carolina Charlotte) replacing Devenney with two outs in the fifth.

The Big Train finally came alive again in the latter half of the inning, picking up a 3-1 lead on a moonshot to dead-center from Skowronski. The Senators tied things at three in the top of the sixth before right-hander Michael Kass (Central Florida) entered the game, but the Big Train quickly retook the lead. The team scored catcher Dylan Murphy (Florida Atlantic) on an error and picked up an RBI single from first baseman Emilio Gonzalez (Nova Southeastern).

In the seventh, Kass exited for Marrero. The Senators scored a run charged to Kass, cutting their deficit to 5-4, but the Big Train ultimately got out of the inning, ending the frame with a huge Marrero strikeout.

After a scoreless bottom of the frame, the Big Train brought in Lehman, who fired a quick 1-2-3 inning in just eight pitches. In the latter half of the eighth, the Big Train extended its lead on a huge two-run single from Skowronski. From there, Lehman shut down the Senators in the ninth, with the last out coming as part of a double play after a terrific outfield throw from Steele helped retire Calvin Cook at second.

“That’s the difference in a great outfielder and a good outfielder,” Big Train head coach Sal Colangelo said. “[Steele] understands angles. He understands the situations. He understands how to turn when he catches the ball.

“He knows what he’s going to do with the ball before he throws it, and right there was a prime example of greatness.”

Next up, the Big Train will take on the Alexandria Aces in Game 1 of its best-of-three championship series. That game takes place today at 7 p.m. at Shirley Povich Field.