Peltier's Power, Petersen's Prowess Propel Big Train to Commanding 10-4 Game One Win over Aces

Emilio Gonzalez (#45), JJ Hand (#24) and Russell Petersen (#14) by Mark Thalman

BOX SCORE

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Bethesda Big Train cruised their way to a 10-4 blowout win in game one of the championship series against the Alexandria Aces. Russell Petersen (Whitman College) tossed six great innings, and Alex Peltier (East Carolina University) collected three hits, including his first home run of the summer season.

“[Petersen] kept the ball down,” Manager Sal Colangelo said. “[He] had three pitches when he needed to and got outs…. Goosebumps, I’m just so happy for Russell.”

Petersen got the ball for game one of the championship series. The starter got a quick first inning. He forced Cooper Hums to fly out on the first pitch before inducing two routine ground balls to turn it over to the Big Train’s offense. Aces’ starter Connor Hutchinson matched Petersen’s scoreless frame, as he retired the Big Train in order. He got some help from his defense when third baseman Michael Powell snagged a line drive off of Peltier’s bat. 

Petersen worked around a walk and stolen base to get out of the second unscathed. He struck out Powell swinging on his way to retiring the side. Emilio Gonzalez (Nova Southeastern University) doubled to lead off the home half of the second for the first hit of the day for either side but was stranded there. 

DJ Scheumann led off the third with a high fly ball that cleared the right field wall for a no-doubt solo homer for the first run of the series. Petersen settled in for three quick outs after the long ball. Hutchinson responded with a shutdown inning, as he retired the Big Train in order for the second time in three frames. 

Petersen faced the heart of the Aces’ batting order in the fourth. He caught cleanup man Ernie Echevarria looking in the frame for the second out. The Aces threatened with a two-out double and a walk, but the righty punched out EJ Hankerson swinging to keep the deficit at 1-0.

Russell Petersen by Mark Thalman

Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University) set the table with a single through the right side of the infield and stole second to put himself into scoring position. With two outs, John Martinez (Florida Atlantic University) lined a single to the opposite field. Skowronski scored to knot the game up at one apiece. Brett Ott (Sacramento State) followed it up with a base hit of his own, but Aces’ right fielder Gavin Degnan threw a rocket home to nail Martinez at the dish. 

Petersen got his revenge against Scheumann in the fifth. He got the first baseman to strike out swinging. After a base hit, Peltier ran down a ball that appeared destined to plug the gap to keep the contest tied.

“Confidence in myself,” Petersen said as the key. “Today, I was confident, and I got nothing to lose.”

Parker Corbin (University of Maryland) got plunked to start the bottom of the fifth. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Peltier smacked a single up the middle. Corbin held up on third, but centerfielder Hums misplayed the ball, and Corbin scored. Peltier advanced to second, and the throw got away from the Aces’ infield, so Peltier made his way to third. The errors proved costly when Brennon Wright (University of South Alabama) hit a sacrifice fly to give the Big Train a 3-1 lead. 

Alex Peltier sliding into home by Mark Thalman

Petersen continued to rack up the strikeouts. He struck out Derek Almeda and Degnan swinging. He forced Powell to line out to right to end the frame and his outstanding night on the mound. The righty finished with six strikeouts in six innings and only gave up one run on three hits. The outing came one week after he allowed four runs in one inning against this very same ballclub. 

“Eating up a bunch of innings and giving us the best shot tomorrow was the goal,” Petersen said. 

Ayden Alexander came into pitch for the Aces and hit back-to-back batters in the sixth with two outs. After a wild pitch advanced both runners, JJ Hand (Old Dominion University) dropped one in front of the outfielders for a two-run knock to give the Big Train some breathing room. The two-out rally turned the lineup over for the Big Train. Peltier stepped in. Down in the count 1-2, the centerfielder did something he hadn’t done all season long. He pummeled the pitch to straightaway centerfield and over the high wall for his first homer of the season. The leadoff hitter had shown off four of his tools throughout his 2025 campaign with power being the lone exception. He changed that with one swing of the bat to break the game open. 

“I took two pretty ugly swings before that,” Peltier recalled. “I just told myself ‘I got to see it up.’ I saw it up and hit it." 

Michael Madigan (George Mason University) entered in the seventh and gave up a homer to Hankerson. The southpaw settled in and got a double play to keep the lead at 7-2. The Big Train responded immediately. Peyton Steele (University of Alabama) doubled off the centerfield wall to start things off. Martinez stayed hot with a single to left field. Ott then added a run via a sacrifice fly to right field. Three batters later, Peltier hit one off the leg of the pitcher Hudson House to drive in Martinez. Another run came into score when Echevarria tried to throw out Peltier at second, but his throw skipped into the outfield. 

Peyton Steele by Mark Thalman

Madigan got his team right back in the dugout. He recorded consecutive strikeouts to start his second inning of work. After a two-out hit-by-pitch, he induced a ground ball to Martinez. The shortstop made a sliding stop and flipped to second from his knee for the final out of the inning. The Big Train didn’t score in the bottom of the eighth. It was the first frame they didn’t score in since the third. 

The Aces weren’t done just yet. Scheumann hit his second tater of the night to make it a 10-4 game. All four runs for the Aces came on the long ball. Lucas Marrero (Lynchburg College) came in for the final two outs. The lefty got two routine fly balls for the 1-0 series lead to pull the Big Train one win away from winning the Cal Ripen Sr. League Championship. 

In addition to Peltier’s three knocks, Martinez and Skowronski also had multi-hit games. Every member of the Big Train lineup either recorded a hit or had an RBI. 

“He’s got power,” Colangelo said of Peltier. “He just has to continue to work on his approach at the plate. He’s [made] adjustments all summer…. Once he gets stronger, gets more at bats…the sky’s the limit.”

The Big Train will have the opportunity to close out the three-peat today at Alexandria at 6:30 p.m. If the Aces extend the series, the two teams will play a winner-take-all game three tomorrow at home at 7 p.m.