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.)

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)

Standings tighten, Big Train get important win

Jarrod Parks scored the go ahead run in the 4th innings in a back and forth match vs. the Nationals. The Nationals scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th to take a 3-1 lead into the 6th were Austin Harclerode hit a bomb to left field over the wall for a 2-run shot. Markus Melgosa scored later in the inning to give the Big Train the 4-3 lead. David Wayne Russo only allowed one base runner (walk) in 2 innings. He did not score. Hugh Adams would give up his first earned run in the 8th when the Nationals Russell Tischler hit a sac fly to tie it at 4. Matt Bowman, Jarrod Parks, and Cody Freeman all scored earned runs in the 9th to give the Big Train the cushion for Bryan Hamilton to close out the game but not get his 6th save. Austin Harclerode had a heck of a night with a Home Run, 4 RBIs, 3 singles and 1 run. Ryan Collins also was a big contributor with 3 hits, one being a triple, a run and an RBI. The Big Train are in trouble in the standings now as the Redbirds and Orioles both won their doubleheaders. The Big Train are now tied for 2nd place with the Redbirds. The Orioles are ahead by a half of a game. The Big Train will be playing Baltimore tomorrow at Povich for maybe the most challenging game yet as Baltimore has won 9 straight!

Bethesda increases lead

The Big Train beat the Nationals Tuesday night in Waldorf, home of last years all star game. After the Nationals took the lead in the first, Cody Freeman had the answer in the 3rd scoring a runner on a double after a wild pitch scored a run. Jordan Beistline held that lead through 5 innings and by then the Big Train had notched on 1 more run. Nick Schneeberger scored in the 6th and Bethesda came through with 4 runs in the 7th. That was all of the scoring as Hugh Adams and Seth Williams held the Nationals to only 1 base runner. Who reached on an error. Combined in 4 innings pitched they allowed 1 base runner and struck out 8! Danny Stienstra had 2 runs, 2 hits, and 1 walk. Pitching was clearly the difference in the ball game. The Big Train walked 2 while striking out 9. And the Nationals walked 9 and struck out 5. The Big Train double the Nationals in hits with 10 and each team committed 2 errors. Bethesda's lead over the Orioles is now 1 game. Check out My league website for a look at the standings

Big Train fall to Nationals

After losing 8 straight the Nationals finally got their 8th win. Bethesda got 2 hit by Austin Poretz and Adam Hoyt. Nick Syndor lead the Nationals with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. Nick Schneeberger had the only Big Train run that was scored on a passed ball in the 7th inning.

Nationals downed in first game vs. Bethesda

Cameron Love got the win Wednesday against the Nationals. He allowed 4 runs in the 4th but the Big Train fired back with 6 of their own in the bottom of the 4th. They Ended up winning 10-7. Mason Morioka also hit his 2nd home run of the season.