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.

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

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.

The Big Train is back on track

After Bethesda's hitting slump, they finally got off to a good start against Herndon Sunday, scoring a first inning run against Herndon's Chris Franzese. Ryan Garton made his Big Train debut on Sunday, allowing only 1 run in 4 innings. Bethesda added a couple runs in the 3rd on 2 hits by Mike Aldrete, who hit a double, and Adam Barry who scored Aldrete on a single and later scored. Herndon scored only 1 run in the 4th and 7th. Only 1 run was earned because of a fielders choice in the 7th inning. Mike Frank and Victor Diaz also made Big Train pitching debuts, combining to pitch the 5,6,7, and 8th innings. Mike Frank ran into trouble with the bases loaded in the 7th, but Victor Diaz shut the Braves down until Matt Bowman came on to finish the game in the 9th. The top of the order came through offensively for Bethesda as Michael Bass, Mike Aldrete, Adam Barry, and Hunter Renfroe combined for 8 hits, 4 runs, 6 RBI, and 3 extra base hits.
In the previous few games, the Big Train were saving all of their hits for yesterday when they slaughtered Alexandria. Bethesda got 18 hits, hitting against all 5 Aces pitchers. Alexandria lead after the first inning 1-0, but starter Cameron Love was solid from there on until he was relieved in the 8th inning. He recorded 9 strikeouts. Almost everyone hit for Bethesda and they had 5 pinch hitters/fielders, including Victor Diaz who played LF adding to the hits with a RBI single in the 8th. Hunter Renfroe and Alex Hudak both homered yesterday at 4 mile run park. Renfroe hit a 3 run homer while Hudak hit a solo homer to lead off the 3rd inning. John Barrett (Frostburg State) hit a homer for Alexandria in the 8th inning off of Martin Agosta who pitched the 8th with 2 strikeouts. Mike Aldrete pitched the 9th inning 3 up, 3 down on strikes. The Big Train look like a new team in the last 2 games, they will face the worst pitching team, the Thunderbolts in a doubleheader Wednesday at 5 and 7:30. Silver Spring's offense is lead by league leader in batting average Bill Gerstenslager who had 4 hits, including a homerun and 2 doubles against Bethesda last time we played them.

Smaller Train

Its hard to come up with a clever name when both teams are trains. But the Big Train weren't so big on Saturday as they got destroyed 12-4. The Express were hitting from the first batter of the game as they scored 2 in the 1st, 4 in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, and 2 more in the 4th inning. And at the end of the 4th, Bethesda was trailing 8-0. Patrick Keane was roughed up in the only 1.2 innings he pitched as he allowed 4 earned runs. Josh Schneider came in to get the final out of the 2nd, but was beaten up for 3 runs in the other 2 innings he pitched allowing a homerun to left field off the bat of Carlos Saade in the 3rd inning. Rockville went scoreless in the 5th, just to score 4 more in the 6th off of Bethesda's Tucker Donahue (Senior, Stetson). Martin Agosta and Mike Aldrete cleaned up the last 1/3 of the game allowing 0 runs and only one hit. Bethesda's offense continues to struggle but Michael Bass played well Saturday batting 2-5 with a double, stolen base, and 2 RBI. Sophomore Hunter Renfroe from Mississippi State debuted Saturday. He went 0-4, but every out was in play and hit hard (VIDEO). Remarkably, the Big Train lead the league in hits so far this season. Rockville's top 1/3 of their lineup was stellar, combining for 8 hits, 6 runs, 5 RBI, and 2 walks. What seemed like and easy win turned into a blowout. Bethesda plays Herndon later today to try to snap their worst losing streak of the season! 2 games!