Friday, February 17, 2012

College Baseball Opening Day

Today starts the college baseball season, that will last through summer until August when we Bethesda's season ends. I will recap last years players performances throughout this season.
We had 2 of last years players start today. Josh Schneider (Morehead St.) and Martin Agosta ( St. Mary's CA)
Schneider and the MSU Eagles played Mercer University in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
He was solid through 2, allowed only 3 runs over the next 2, but fell apart in the 5th walking a pair of batters and allowing a pair of hits, he was relieved by Gerardo Arias who didnt help the cause, allowing 5 earned over only 1 inning.
Josh's line : 4.1 IP 7 H 7 R 7 ER 2 BB 2 K's
Morehead State fell 22-6 in game 1 of a doubleheader.

Gael's pitcher Martin Agosta had a very different start to the season.
He threw a solid 7 innings allowing only 1 unearned run, 7 base runners, and struck out 8 batters. He left the game in a 1-1 tie and the Gaels scored next inning and the scored remained 2-1. Brenden Kalfus went 0-4.

Also in California, San Fransisco and San Jose State open the season in a 3 game series. 6 of last years players  are on those 2 combined rosters.
Senior Catcher Mason Morioka lead the Dons to a 4-0 victory over the Spartans. Morioka went 3-5 with 2 RBI and hit his 1st college homer.
Quote from usfdons.com,
     "It was awesome," Morioka said when asked about hitting the home run. "I kind of expected to get big leagued in the dugout when I came back after hitting it. I'm a fourth year senior so I understand the practical joke."


Cameron Love came in the game in the 7th inning in a bases loaded situation, struck out Big Train teammate Mike Aldrete, and threw the rest of the game to get a 3 inning save.


Back on the east coast, Michael Bass and Drew Farber from UNC Wilmington helped in a 10th inning comeback against Ohio. Closing pitcher Tyler Backstrom blew a save in the 9th, and Ohio took the lead in the 10th, but a two run single by Thomas Pope drove in Drew Farber as the winning run to win the game in 10.


Michael Bass was 1-4 and Drew Farber was 1-2 with the winning run.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Bethesda breaks all-time wins record

Bethesda already had 1st place locked up, but they still played hard, trying for the record setting win. Bethesda started off with runs in the first 4 innings. Making the score 5-0 going into the bottom of the 4th where Elliot Waterman got into trouble allowing 2 runs. He also allowed 2 runners on base the next inning before an out was recorded. Patrick Keane came in to relieve Waterman but both runners scored. Ben Carson scored next inning to make it 5-5. But Keane was solid from there on until he was relieved with 2 outs in the 8th for David Wayne Russo who pitched the last 4 outs. Bethesda started off the 9th with Adam Barry and Tucker Tobin drawing walks. Brenden Kalfus layed down a perfect bunt to move up the runners. Brennan Middleton came in to pinch hit for Daryl Norris and walked to load the bases. Mason Morioka hit a single to left field scoring Barry and Tobin for the game winning runs.

Notable Performances :
Adam Barry (2-4) 2 Runs, 2 RBI, Walk, 2 Doubles
Mason Morioka (2-4) Run, 3 RBI, Walk

Minor/Major League Update 7-21

Dirk Hayhurst has been on the DL with a sore right elbow and hasn't played since July 9th.
His Season ERA is at 4.12 but he has a 4-2 record and 43 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched.
Earlier today, I talked to Dirk on Twitter. He commented to the Blue Jay's Travis Snider about his recent tweets to fans about what he was eating.


Jarrod Parks has been moved back down to regular A league ball after his brief stint with the 66ers. The 66ers got players back from the DL so he moved down, and hasn't gotten a hit so far (0-10) but has 2 walks for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Nick Vickerson is still struggling in Spokane, batting .211 with only 8 RBI in 23 games. He did get a hit against former Orioles and Big Train pitcher Drew Permison when they played Vancouver. He was also involved in the bench clearing brawl. Read more HERE

Cody Allen is doing well for the Scrappers, holding an ERA under 3, with a 2-1 record and 28 K's in 24.1 innings.
Photo by Scenesofmadness on Flickr

Eli Boike is 7-32 since moving up to single A Lansing.
Picture by Whitecapwendy on Flickr

Danny Stienstra should be returning soon to the Batavia Muckdogs line-up
Picture by Scenesofmadness on Flickr

Drew Lee is batting .313 in his last 10 games with Kannapolis
Picture by mmtp on Flickr

Drew Permison was roughed up when he pitched against Nick Vickerson and Spokane earlier this month but still holds a 2.35 ERA and 6 saves.


Scott Schneider is really struggling in Double-A Springfield right now with a 4-8 record and 6.01 ERA.

Connor Hoehn is recovering from a couple bad outings, he pitched a scoreless inning yesterday against Modesto.
Picture by Chrishwish on Flickr

Justin Wright was recently moved down to the GCL Cardinals and has pitched 1 inning.

Mike McKenry is 8-33 so far in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED @MLB

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

South All Stars hold on to lead, Morley wins derby

The HR Derby was delayed by a little sprinkle, but was played in full.
In the 1st round (of 2) Jordan Poole (Redbirds) hit bombs, I think he hit 8, I dont remember because I was in the field catching them. But it was him and Jacob Morley, who I think had 4 HRs. Morley won. Again i'm sorry I don't have all of the details, you can probably find them on the Big Trains e-mail, you can sign up for it at bigtrain.org on the right side of the page.

In the actual game, Matt Bowman started, he threw one inning, allowing a walk and no runs.
Martin Agosta pitched in the 2nd with a perfect inning with 2 k's.
Austin Poretz (Nationals) pitched in the 3rd allowing 2 hits and a walk but no runs. Alex Hudak saved him with an awesome throw to Hunter Renfroe from left field to nail the runner at the plate by a mile.
Kelly Secrest (4th inning) and Tucker Donahue (6th inning) also pitched perfect innings.
Mike Aldrete came in to pitch in the 8th with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. The runner on 2nd was the game tying run. He pitched out of it and pitched the 9th perfect as well.

Big Train Hitters

Alex Hudak 2-4 Run
Adam Barry 0-4
Hunter Renfroe 0-3 K
Brenden Kalfus 1-2 Run
Michael Bass 1-3 HBP

MVP : Alex Hudak (Game saving throw in the 3rd, 2-4 run)
Runner-up / My honorable mention :  Ryan Dietrich 2-2, 2 RBI, 2 Doubles
And you can't forget to mention Chris Bzozowski's bomb to center field over the scoreboard in the 8th!
And during scouting day, earlier in the day, Big Train's catcher Hunter Renfroe threw 98 MPH off of the mound. 98!!!!!!

Big Train go into final week on fire

Bethesda has won 31 games now this season tying their all time high, by beating the Nationals twice. The Big Train have clinched 1st place, and are trying to break their wins record tonight in Silver Spring.
Saturday, the Big Train put on another talent show by lighting up all of the 4 Nationals pitchers for 11 runs and shutting out the Nationals and only allowing 3 hits. Martin Agosta pitched 6 solid innings with 9 strikeouts, no walks, and only 3 hits. Mike Frank pitched the last 3 perfect, recording 3 k's. Daryl Norris hit a sac fly in the 2nd to start the scoring.  Brenden Kalfus doubled in the 3rd scoring Adam Barry. Mike Aldrete hit a 2-run homer plating Daryl Norris. The scoring held off until the 7th when Bethesda scored 4 runs on 3 hits including a homer from Brenden Kalfus scoring Adam Barry and Hunter Renfroe. And in the 8th, 5 straight hits added 3 more runs. Hits from Middleton, Hudak, Barry, Tobin (PH for Renfroe), and Kalfus.
Player of the game : Brenden Kalfus (4-5, 5 RBI, 2 Runs, 3-run HR, 2B)

Monday, Bethesda went to Waldorf to play the Nationals again were they were down after the first inning 2-1. But they fought back in the 4th with 3 runs all with 2 outs with Mississippi State's Daryl Norris starting the rally with a double, followed by a double from Brennan Middleton to tie it. Drew Farber walked. The a balk by the pitcher moved both runners into scoring position for Matt Bowman as he hit a single that scored 1 run. Another unearned run by the Nationals in the 5th but the only 1 run behind, but they were shut down the rest of the game by Cameron Love and Mike Kent. Love went 7 long innings facing 29 batters and striking out 6. Only 1 run against him was earned due to errors by Adam Barry (3B) and Drew Farber (C). Bethesda got an insurance run in the 7th on Brenden Kalfus' RBI single, but it didn't matter as Bethesda won by 2.
Player of the game : Daryl Norris (2-4, with a double and a run, and he triggered the rally in the 4th inning to lead the Big Train to victory.)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Big Train move to 7th in the nation

After Monday's All-Star Game in Vienna, Perfect Game USA ranked Bethesda #7 in the nation, moving above the Harrisonburg Turks, the team who plays at the all star game field. Bethesda is now 29-7, 7 games up on the 2nd place Nationals. The Nationals will come here today on a 3 game losing streak.
Now going back in time to Monday's Mid Atlantic Classic:
Bethesda had Hunter Renfroe and Adam Barry starting. Neither of them had hit or got on base.
Mike Aldrete and Martin Agosta pitched later in the game, allowing 0 runs.
The Cal Ripken league won 6-3 and out hit the Valley league 10-3.
Joey Cujas from Vienna was the only batter with more than 1 hit on the night.
 The Home Run Derby was short and uneventful, as 10 players had 4 outs each, then the top 2 went to the championship round. Mike Mandarino (SOMD) vs. the other valley league dude whose name i do not know. And it was 1-0. Hunter Renfroe only hit one home run. Why? Because the pitcher was Rockville's coach. He hit 2 batters during the derby.

July 13th vs Baltimore Redbirds
Baltimore came into the game after beating the Nationals the night before 14-4. After a quick first 3 innings, the Redbirds scored one run in both the 4th and 5th. But behing David Wayne Russo and Josh Schneider's pitching, Bethesda was able to tie the game at 3 after 7.
7th Inning :
Error by 2nd baseman, allows Hudak to get to 1st.
Norris and Wise popout.
Quiery walks.
Morioka doubles scoring both runners.
Bass popout.
By that error, Bethesda not only tied it but later won the game in the bottom of the 9th inning.
With 2 outs and nobody on, Matt Bowman and Michael Bass walked back to back.
And Mike Aldrete brought home Matt Bowman with a single to walk-off!

Pictures from this game are HERE

Josh Schneider Pitching in the 8th
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Brandon Bouxdreaux's amazing catch
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

July 14th vs Herndon Braves

9-1. Thats not the final score. Thats the score after the 3rd inning. Bethesda rocked Herndon's pitcher Chris Shaklee in the 1.2 innings he pitched, giving up 2 runs in the first and 5 in the 2nd. Herndon's 2nd pitcher, also names Chris, calmed things down a little bit, but he still allowed a run. Bethesda's starter Ryan Garton left earlier than Herndon's starter, after only throwing for 1 inning. Garton didn't show up at Povich yesterday. Patrick Keane came on to throw 5 innings allowing only 2 runs. And by the time he was done, Bethesda had already added 5 more runs to the previous 9. 6 Big Train players had multi-hit nights! Leadoff hitter Michael Bass was 3-4 with 4 runs, a walk, and his 16th stolen base on the season. Alex Hudak was 3-3 with 2 RBI. Adam Barry had 2 hits and 4 RBI. Hunter Renfroe had 2 hits, 2 RBI, and a run before Mason Morioka came in to pinch-hit. Brenden Kalfus had 2 hits. At last but not least Daryl Norris was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 3 runs. Matt Bowman also crossed the plate 3 times. Drew Farber had a mentionable play when he broke his bat, and the barrel went flying into the stands, barely missing some fans by hitting off of the rail and over the stands. Final 14-3. 17 Hits for Bethesda. 5 errors for Herndon.

July 15th vs Youse's Orioles

Hit Parade!...again.

This game didn't start off very well as a 2-run home run was hit in the first inning by Dennis Mitchell off of Matt Bowman. But that was it until the 9th as Bowman shut them down from then until the 8th when he was relieved. He recorded 8 strikeouts. Bethesda didn't start their run explosion until the 3rd when Mike Aldrete and Michael Bass hit back to back triples. They added 3 more in the 3rd. And 4 more in the 6th including a bases clearing triple by Adam Barry! They didn't stop in the 8th and 9th as 3 runs came in, in both of those innings. Alex Hudak hit a towering drive off of the center field wall in the 8th that would have been a home run without the wall. All 3 runs in the 9th were unearned because of an error by the 2nd baseman. Tucker Donahue allowed 2 runs and left the bases loaded in the 9th. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway considering they still won by 11 runs. All Big Train players got hits in the game, 5 with multi-hit nights. Bass, Barry, and Aldrete had triples. Alex Hudak and Tucker Tobin had doubles. Tobin came in as a defensive replacement for Hunter Renfroe, and only had 1 at-bat, and still managed to get 2 RBI's. Michael Bass had 3 hits and 4 runs just like the night before. Aldrete, Renfroe, Barry, and Hudak also had multi-hit nights.



Saturday, June 25, 2011

6th inning victory

Braves pitcher Daniel Thorpe had things going for him through the first 5 innings of the game as the Braves were leading 2-1. At that point it seemed like a low scoring pitchers duel. The only runs scored in the game came on RBI singles and a wild pitch. But Bethesda's bats woke up in the 6th inning with 5 hits. Mike Aldrete lead off. Tim Quiery laid down a sacrafice bunt, but 3rd baseman Jordon Smucker made an error, so Quiery got on base. Adam Barry then got a single to load the bases with no outs. Then Hunter Renfroe got an RBI single, and the bases remained loaded. Brenden Kalfus then singled scoring 2 runs. So 5 straight batter reached base in the inning. Hunter Renfroe scored later on a fielders choice. Alex Hudak later scored as well. After Hudak scored, the starter Thorpe was pulled. He only allowed 3 earned runs and only got 1 out in that inning. They batted around but Mike Aldrete flyed out stranding Matt Bowman on third. Mike Frank had already had taken over on the mound, Ryan Garton started allowing only 1 run in 4 innings. Frank pitched until the 7th when Patrick Keane took over to allow no baserunners in the 8th and 9th. Matt Bowman scored in the 9th to make the final 7-2 over Herndon. Notable Performances (Alex Hudak who tripled, Patrick Keane who threw 2 perfect innings, and Adam Barry who had 2 hits.) Tim Quiery was the only player on the team who didnt get a hit in the game.

Express win again

The Big Train continued their slump against the Express on Friday. Elliot Waterman pitched 4 innings allowing 3 runs to start off the game. But the Big Train got right back in the game in the 6th inning when Hunter Renfroe hit another home run! This time, a 2 run home run to bring Bethesda back within a run. David Wayne Russo and Martin Agosta combined to pitch the remainder of the 5 innings scoreless but it wasnt enough as Hunter's home run was the only offense of the night and the Big Train went 3 up, 3 down in the 9th. Stay tuned as I will be giving away a FREE Big Train individual season pass for this 2011 season! (Details soon)
Elliot Waterman pitching

Extra inning victory

The Big Train got off to a good start in Calvert Hall on Thursday as they went ahead 2-0 after 4 and a half innings. But the game quickly turned around after that as Baltimore scored 3 quick runs in the 5th and 6th to take the lead. Alot of zeros were put up from then until a clutch 2 out RBI hit from Brennan Middleton tied it in the 9th scoring Brenden Kalfus who doubled to lead off the inning. Josh Schneider came in to pitch and shut down the Redbirds allowing Adam Barry to score Mike Aldrete on an RBI single in the 10th inning. Aldrete hit a 2-out triple to get on base. Mike also came on to get the save in the bottom of the 10th. A very questionable call in left field ended the game as Tim Wise made a nice catch but the Redbirds did not think he caught the ball, but the game was over. Bethesda improves to 14-3 and #21 in the nation.

Doubleheader sweep

Bethesda's first doubleheader of the season turned out nicely on Wednesday as they won both games against the struggling Thunderbolts. The first game was a shutout pitched by Matt Bowman who threw a 7 inning complete game. Bowman only allowed 3 baserunners on hits and struck out 8 batters. Adam Barry had a double and a sac fly, and 2 RBI, and Landon Appling had 2 hits.
The second game was owned by Hunter Renfroe who had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Bethesda jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the first on Adam Barry's RBI single. The T-Bolts scored in the 3rd to tie it. But it wasnt tied for long as Hunter Renfroe hit a 2 RBI single scoring Michael Bass for his 2nd time of the night and Tim Wise. Renfroe added an insurance run in the 6th inning on his 2nd homer of the season. He even came in to pitch in the 7th and recorded the save, he allowed a run and left runners on base, but still managed to get the 3rd out. Bethesda improves to 13-3 on the season.