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In their second and final tune-up before the regular season, the Big Train shut out the BCC Little Train 7-0 in what was a solid all-around performance from the victors. 

The Big Train kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the first, when Nolan Schanuel (Florida Atlantic) brought home Darius Foster (San Francisco) from third on an RBI groundout. 

After that, with a few hits sprinkled in, zeros filled the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth, when Brady Gumpf (Notre Dame) came up with two men on. He laced a two-run double to left to make it 3-0 Big Train. The next batter, Kyle Velasquez (Saint Mary’s CA) smacked a double off of the scoreboard in left center field, scoring Gumpf and extending the Big Train lead to four. Pinch hitter Ryan Daugherty (Saint Mary’s CA) then brought Velasquez home on an RBI groundout. The explosive fifth inning propelled the Big Train to a commanding 5-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth, catcher Grant Knipp (Alabama) hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0. Two innings later, Schanuel crushed a full count pitch over the wall and into the right-center field foliage to make it a 7-0 ballgame, which would be the final run of the evening. 

“I just couldn’t miss today,” Schanuel, who went 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs, said after the game. 

Meanwhile, the Big Train pitching staff combined for a five-hit shutout.

The Big Train will start the regular season on the road on Monday against the Gaithersburg Giants, starting their quest to add more trophies to the already crowded trophy case. They return to Povich Field Wednesday night for the regular season home opener against the South County Braves.