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.

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.

Big Train 9-2

The Bethesda Big Train are currently in 2nd place after losing today to the Southern Maryland Nationals who are now (11-0). Bethesda has only 3 hits in the last 3 games and are 1-2 in those games. The first of those games, vs the Orioles, the Orioles pitcher Blake Geiger (Richmond) no-hit the Big Train. A hit was given to Brenden Kalfus on the play but it was clearly an error by the catcher. Geiger deserved a no-hitter. The Orioles scored one run in that game (Click for video). The Orioles were held to only 4 hits by Big Train pitcher Matt Bowman (Princeton) who recorded 10 strikeouts in 8 innings.
Yesterdays game against Vienna was pushed back an hour due to pouring rain, then they played five innings until it poured again. The Big Train won 2-1 stranding a runner on 3rd base. Here are some videos from the game, ( HERE , HERE, AND HERE ). Kelly Secrest recorded 7 strikeouts in 4 innings and allowing 0 earned runs. The run was scored on one of Bethesda's 3 errors. The River Dogs also got 3 errors. And all 6 of them came in the first 3 innings of play. A dropped fly ball to center field was scored as a hit for Bethesda so Vienna only got 2 credited errors.
Tonight, 2 more errors were made vs. the SM Nationals made by Mason Morioka and Brennan Middleton. Both errors caused the only 2 runs of the game for the Nationals. Eliott Waterman and David Wayne Russo combined to get 7 strikeouts and only 4 hits. Michael Bass got a 2 out triple but was unable to score. The Big Train will try to catch up with the Nationals after they play the Rockville (2-9)