bigtrain.org: News

Big Train Drop Thriller in Extras to Rockville Express

06/29/2014 11:12 PM

By:David Schneider

Kevin Tatum went 3-for-6 but the Big Train fell in extras.

On Sunday night, the Bethesda Big Train played host to the Rockville Express. In a battle between the two top teams in the league, Jake Valdez (St. Mary's College (CA)) took the mound for the Big Train in a 7-6 extra inning loss. Valdez went four and a third innings and left the game in the 5th inning after a ball hit his leg.

Jacob Billingsley (Mississippi State) came in for Valdez in the middle of the 5th inning and went two and two-thirds innings giving up no hits while striking out two batters.

The 2nd inning was a good one for the Big Train. First, Josh Spano (High Point) hit a liner down the left field line to score Kevin Tatum (Cornell) and then after Stephen Alemais (Tulane) walked, Brandon Lowe (Maryland) hit a two RBI single to give the Big Train an early 3-0 lead.

The Express were able to make a comeback and take the lead 4-3, scoring one run in the 3rd and 4th inning, and two runs in the 5th.

After a bunch of zeros on the board for both teams, the Big Train tied the game the bottom of the 7th. Logan Farrar (Virginia Commonwealth) walked to start the inning and later crossed home plate after Johnny Cole (Coastal Carolina) rocketed a ball to right field and hustled to third for a stand-up triple.

In the 8th inning, the Express scored two runs and took a 6-4 lead over the Big Train.

Cody Brown (Mississippi State) homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the 8th to cut the Express lead to one run.

The bottom of the 9th proved to be an exciting one. Cody Brown came up with two outs and Ryne Willard (N.C. State) on second base. Lewis blooped a ball between the left fielder, center fielder, and second basemen. The ball hit off the glove of the second baseman and dropped to the grass as Willard crossed the plate to tie the game at six runs.

In the 12th inning, the Express were able to push across a run on three singles. The Big Train were unable to score in the 12th and recorded their second loss of the season. The Big Train were resilient all night, coming back multiple times to keep the game alive. The Big Train were a little sloppy at times in their pitching, hitting, and fielding, but at the half way point in the season they have a .900 winning percentage and lead the league by 5.5 games.

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