Big Train Cruise to Shutout Mercy Rule Victory over Braves

by Alex Rubinson

Pregame huddle

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Bethesda Big Train ran over the Metro South County Braves on Sunday. Drew Bellis (University of Central Florida) and the Big Train's offense dismantled the Braves 12-0. The game ended in the eighth inning due to a mercy rule.

Bellis got the start and continued to rack up his huge strikeout numbers. He worked around a Franklin Gomez Jr. line drive single and an infield hit by Trent Adelman to strike out three in the first frame. The Braves did get a runner on third with two outs, but Bellis punched out Shawn Karpaitas to end the threat.

The Big Train got to Braves starter Nate Dudeck. Alex Peltier (East Carolina University) led off the home half of the first with a knock just out of reach of Braves shortstop Andre Bouffard. After Peltier swiped second, Brennon Wright (University of South Alabama) reached on a bunt single. Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University) lined a base hit to bring home Peltier and get the Big Train on the board early in the contest. Emilio Gonzalez (Florida Atlantic University) reached on an error by Bouffard to score Wright for the second run of the inning. The Big Train continued to mash. Matt Westley (undecided) dropped a double into right field to give his ballclub a 3-0 lead. Peyton Steele (University of Alabama) made the first out of the contest, but his ground ball brought home Gonzalez. After John Martinez (Florida Atlantic University) was plunked, he took off for second. The throw hit Martinez and skidded into the outfield, which allowed Westley to score and gave Bellis a 5-0 cushion before his second inning of work. The five-spot knocked Dudeck out after just the first frame.

Josh Skowronski by Mark Thalman

Bellis got his team right back in the dugout. He induced a weak flyout to right and ground ball to Martinez at shortstop. After he hit Kyndall Cassidy, he recorded his fourth strikeout of the day, as Bouffard tipped it into Dylan Murphy’s (Florida Atlantic University) mitt for the third out of the inning.

Tyler Kim didn’t have any luck in relief of Dudeck. After consecutive walks to start the bottom of the second, Skowronski singled to drive in Peltier for his second RBI of the afternoon. With the infield in, Gonzalez hit one past the diving Cassidy at first to bring home two more runs.

Bellis cruised through the third frame. He forced JW Kohlmeyer to foul out to first. After he forced weak contact, the lefty went back to striking hitters out. He froze Gomez Jr. before he blew it by Charlie Brinkman. Brinkman could not pick up Bellis, as he struck out for the second time during the contest.

In the bottom of the third, Corbin worked a walk and Peltier was hit by a pitch and stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Wright hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Corbin and open up a 9-0 Big Train lead.

Bellis started the fourth inning right where he left off. He worked around a one-out error and recorded three more strikeouts in the frame. He punched out Adelman and Ryan Santangelo swinging before he caught Aleksei Goldhill looking to get through four dominant frames.

Drew Bellis by Mark Thalman

The Big Train’s bats continued to add on. Steele and Martinez smashed back-to-back doubles to get the team into double-digits. In the top of the fifth, Bellis continued to mow down the Braves’ lineup. He forced Cassidy to hit a lazy flyout to left and jammed Bouffard into hitting a dribbler to second. With two outs, Bellis finished his outing how he started it. He struck out pinch-hitter Connor Doherty and ended his remarkable appearance. The southpaw seemed to barely break a sweat through his five innings. He finished with 10 strikeouts while only allowing three hits.

In the middle of the fifth, the Big Train entered a lightning delay. The stoppage lasted about an hour. Coming out of the delay, the Big Train were held scoreless for the first time all day. Cole Ketchum (University of Mississippi) relieved Bellis in the sixth. New pitcher, same result. Ketchum struck out Michael Lavanga and Walker Bazile to get through a clean sixth frame.

In the home half of the sixth, Steele laced his second hit of the day and was followed by a Corbin single. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Murphy lined out to center. The hard hit ball was deep enough to score Steele.

In his second inning of relief, Ketchum struck out the side. The right-hander punched out Goldhill swinging to lead it off. He then froze Cassidy and Bouffard for his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the day.

Wright led off the seventh with a base hit past the outstretched glove of the second baseman. Two batters later, Gonzalez was inches away from a game-ending mercy rule homer. The ball hit off the top of the wall to keep the contest alive, as the Big Train could not bring in Wright from third base. Ketchum worked an easy eighth inning, as he retired the side in order.

In the eighth, the Big Train was smelling a mercy rule walkoff. Martinez walked and stole second to get the game-ending run in scoring position. After Corbin walked, Murphy plugged the gap to score Martinez and end a 12-0 win for the Big Train.

Dylan Murphy by Mark Thalman

The Big Train will hit the road later today against the DC Grays at 7 p.m. They will return home for a makeup game against the Gaithersburg Giants on Tuesday at 7 p.m.