Big Train Pitching Walks the Tightrope against Senators 7-4 to Advance to Championship Series

by Alex Rubinson

Tanner Kaler by Mark Thalman

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Fresh off of the Southern Maryland Senators battling back to tie the game at three, Dylan Murphy (Florida Atlantic University) and Brennon Wright (University of South Alabama) walked in the sixth. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University) had already homered earlier in the night. The slugger dug in with an opportunity to give his ballclub the lead. He hit a ground ball to first base. It took an in-between hop and Steven Kraus had it bounce off his chest. The wild pitch came back to bite the Senators, as Murphy scored easily. Emilio Gonzalez (Nova Southeastern University) hit another chopper. The ball took a weird hop and off the outstretched glove of shortstop Calvin Cook to plate another run.

“That pitch I was just trying to foul off,” Skowronski said. “I just couldn’t strikeout in that situation, so I just wanted to put the ball in play…and got the job done."

The Bethesda Big Train are championship bound. After their pitchers were working in and out trouble throughout the night, the team took advantage of a few Senators’ miscues to edge out a 7-4 series-clinching victory.

“[Baseball] is the hardest game in America to play,” Manager Sal Colangelo said.

Immediately after re-taking the lead, Michael Kass (University of Central Florida) issued two walks and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Lucas Marrero (Lynchburg College) came in trying to be superman. John Martinez (Florida Atlantic University) showed his high baseball IQ. Cook dropped one into very shallow left field. The runner at second initially retreated back to the bag. As he scampered to third, Martinez came all the way over with nobody covering third base. The throw came to the shortstop to get the force out at third. Although a run scored, Martinez’s heads-up play, and Marrero’s clutch strikeout of Kraus later in the frame kept the Big Train’s lead intact.

Lucas Marrero by Mark Thalman

The Senators left a runner on third in six of the first seven innings, including stranding the bases loaded in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames. The Big Train pitching staff bent but refused to break.

“They showed their grit,” Colangelo said. “They started to execute some pitches when they needed to. They kept the hitters off balance."

After they fell behind 1-0 in the first, the Big Train’s lineup responded immediately. Wright reached on an infield hit and stole second to get into scoring position. After Gonzalez walked, Peyton Steele (University of Alabama) stepped into the batter’s box, as he looked to make the Senators pay for the previous free pass. On the first pitch he saw, the right fielder belted a liner over the right fielder’s head. Both runners scored, and the Big Train grabbed the lead.

Michael Devenney (Tulane University) labored through the first inning after his defense made two errors and was tagged with an unearned run. Throughout the contest, the righty weathered traffic on the basepaths. In the top of the fifth, the Senators put the tying run 90 feet away. In a jam, Devenney had Kraus way out in front and struck him out on a pitch in the dirt. After the next two batters reached to load the bases, Colangelo brought in Tanner Kaler (University of North Carolina Charlotte). After he fell behind in the count 2-0, the southpaw got Carter Groen to line out to center.

The Big Train’s offense rewarded their pitchers’ Houdini act. One pitch into the bottom of the fifth, Skowronski smashed a towering shot over the wall in dead center for a 3-1 advantage.

“Just make an adjustment at bat to at bat,” Skowronski said after he struck out in the first inning. “Looked for the fastball, got a fastball and put a good swing on it.”

Josh Skowronski by Mark Thalman

In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Peltier (East Carolina University) reached on a pitch clock violation for ball four. He advanced all the way to third after the pickoff attempt went wide. Wright walked and swiped second without a throw. With two runners in scoring position, Skowronski hit a Baltimore chop over the infield that was playing in. Peltier and Wright both scored for a 7-4 cushion.

Connor Lehman (University of Alabama) steadied things for the pitching staff. He retired the side in order for the second time all night in the eighth. With a three-run lead in the ninth, and two runners on, Logan Tribble flew out to Steele. Cook made the risky decision to tag from first base even though his run would not change the score in a significant way. Testing Steele’s arm has not been a smart decision in the past, and he proved why once again. The right fielder threw a bullet to catch Cook at second to end the ballgame and secure the Big Train's berth in the championship series.

“[Steele] dekes a lot of people with his arm,” Colangelo said. “He knows how to play the position. That’s the difference in the great outfielders and the good outfielders, he understands angles…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.”

After the Big Train suffered a stunning loss on Thursday night, they came back to win two tight games to send the Senators packing.

“ [Our] backs were against the wall,” Skowronski said. “It was good to play like we can. We got to go into the championship series but have to clean up the defense.”

Game one of the championship series will feature the Big Train and the Alexandria Aces at Shirley Povich Field today at 7 p.m.

Click HERE to read the recap of yesterday's win!