Steele Homers, Lehman Shines in 6-3 Victory over Cropdusters

Peyton Steele Celebrates HR with Teammates by Mark Thalman

BOX SCORE

STANDINGS

OLNEY, Md. - The Bethesda Big Train continued their winning ways with a 6-3 victory over the Olney Cropdusters. The win improved Sal Colangelo’s group to 17-6 on the season. 

Zak Szabo took the mound for the Cropdusters and worked a quick first inning. He got some help from leftfielder Cade Walter, who laid out to take a hit away from Brennon Wright (University of South Alabama). The right-hander struck out Peyton Steel (University of Alabama) to end the inning. Connor Lehman (University of Alabama) walked a pair in the opening frame that led to the Cropdusters threatening with runners on second and third. The southpaw escaped the threat by forcing Cadeyrn Ahearn to ground out to second. 

Josh Skowronski (Winthrop University) recorded the first hit for either side with an infield hit up the middle. Szabo was still in full command with two strikeouts in his second inning of the night. 

Lehman responded with one of the most dominant innings a Big Train has thrown this year. He started the frame by striking out Luke Keefer on a check swing. He followed it up by blowing the fastball by RJ Cromartie. Lehman completely fooled Tyler Cook. He initially got him to swing and miss on a pitch in the dirt before he caught Cook looking to strike out the side. 

Szabo got two quick outs in the third frame before Alex Peltier (East Carolina University) lined a single to center. Peltier stole second to get into scoring position. The aggressive send paid off when Wright singled him home to get the Big Train on the board first. 

Walter registered the first and only hit off of Lehman. The left fielder hit a weak ground ball to Emilio Gonzalez (Florida Atlantic University) at first, but Walter beat out Lehman in a foot race to the first base bag. The Alabama sophomore worked around the infield hit by getting the next two batters to ground out to third to send the contest into the middle innings. 

In the top of the fourth, Matt Westley (undecided) worked a walk, but the rest of the Big Train lineup went down quietly with the team clinging to a 1-0 lead. Lehman found himself in a jam when he issued a walk and hit a batter to lead off the inning. In a full count, the southpaw got a pitcher’s best friend, a tailor-made around-the-horn double play. With two outs and a runner on third, Lehman forced Cromartie to hit a routine popup to preserve the lead.  

Logan Ponnett (University of North Carolina Charlotte) led off the fifth inning with a base hit to right field. The third baseman stole second and third later in the inning. After Wright worked a walk and stole second, the Big Train had a big scoring opportunity with two runners in scoring position. Steele worked the count full against Angel Santiago-Cruz. On the 3-2 delivery, Steele pounded a high fly ball to deep left field for a three-run dinger and his first home run of the season to give Lehman and the Big Train a four-run cushion. The homer by Steele is just the most recent example of the Big Train’s latest power surge. 

Peyton Steele Celebrates by Mark Thalman

“Watching the pitcher’s tendencies and studying the game,” Colangelo said of the uptick in homers. “Our approaches are really good.”

With the homer, Steele reached double digit extra-base hits on the season. He also has nine doubles for the year. 

“I think just keeping your composure throughout the at bat,” Steele said as the key to his success. “When you put the barrel on the baseball, it’s going to go pretty far.”

Given three insurance runs, Lehman got his team right back in the dugout with an incredibly quick inning. Lehman struck out Cook for the second time and his fifth strikeout of the ballgame. 

Connor Lehman by Mark Thalman

After using the long ball in the fifth, the Big Train played small ball in the sixth inning. Westley and Skowronski got the inning started with back-to-back singles. After John Martinez (Florida Atlantic University) advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Ponnett drove in Westley with a sacrifice fly. 

The Cropdusters got on the board in the sixth. Lehman issued consecutive walks to open up the frame. Later in the inning, the lefty threw two wild pitches, which allowed the Cropdusters to score their first run of the night. After a hit by pitch, Colangelo brought in Michael Kass (University of Central Florida) to relieve Lehman after 5.1 strong innings. After a strikeout on a checked swing, Cromartie followed it up with a run-scoring single to make it a 5-2 game.  

The Big Train loaded the bases via a single, a walk and a hit batter. After a fielder’s choice, Skowronski delivered another Big Train sacrifice fly. The productive out extended the lead to 6-2 heading into the seventh inning stretch. Kass pitched a perfect seventh frame. The Florida native struck out Walter looking in the inning. 

The Big Train were retired in order in the top of the eighth. Even having already thrown in parts of three different innings, Kass looked as fresh as ever. He struck out both Will Henson and Andrew Kell. With two outs, he forced Ahearn to hit a lazy fly ball to Skowronski to send the game to the ninth. 

Although the Big Train could not add on, Wright led off the final frame with his third base hit of the contest. If Walter had not robbed him of a single in the first inning, the second baseman would have had a perfect night at the dish. Kass came in for the final three outs. He started it off by striking out Keefer, who punched out for the third time. The Cropdusters manufactured a run thanks to a hit batter, two steals and a Cook single right up the middle. After a bloop single that Ponnett couldn’t quite field, Zakye Hawkins stepped to the plate representing the tying run. Kass froze Hawkins to end the game and secure the win for the Big Train. 

Brennon Wright by Mark Thalman

“I couldn’t be happier for [Kass],” Colangelo said. “He pounded the zone, worked ahead, and his breaking ball was lights out.”

After getting the holiday off, the Big Train will return to action tomorrow when they host the Gaithersburg Giants at 7 p.m.