NEWS

By Gavin Dorsey

For much of the night, the packed Shirley Povich Field was rocking. Despite being unable to score for the first seven innings, the home ballpark of the Bethesda Big Train was still quite loud amidst a full crowd, on-field dizzy bat games and between-innings musical chairs.

But in the bottom of the ninth, the silence could’ve let anyone in the audience hear a pin drop.

The Big Train trailed 3-1 with two outs Sunday in the first game of the LCS Semifinals, with a potential home loss to the Olney Cropdusters holding significant value in a best-of-three playoff series. The Cal Ripken Sr. League’s second-best offense had been largely stifled by Cropduster pitcher Doug Marose (Delaware), who had allowed just four hits with three strikeouts over 8.2 innings to that point. Marose needed just one out to wrap up the dominant complete game victory, but when an erroneous throw on what would’ve been the game-ending groundout skipped past the first baseman, Bethesda got one last chance, bringing Jeffery Heard (Sacramento State) to the plate.

In an instant, the dead silence turned into a deafening roar.

Heard destroyed a 2-0 pitch deep to right field, landing somewhere in the trees behind the outfield wall for what was measured as a 399-foot bomb. Heard tossed his bat sky-high, and both the crowd and dugout sprang to their feet with a jolt of electricity. The tying last-shot home run pushed the game into extras, helping fuel Bethesda to a 4-3 victory in 12 innings and a 1-0 lead in the semifinal series.

After the game, Heard attributed the win to his team’s grit and heart, saying that nobody gave up at any point in time.

“I was just trying to hit the ball hard up the middle,” Heard said. “Fortunately, I was able to get the 2-0 pitch out in front and watch it go a little bit.”

Following the comeback, Bethesda is just one win away from the League Championship Series. The Big Train can’t start looking too far ahead, though, as they’ll first need to get past the Cropdusters in either Monday’s Game Two or Tuesday’s Game Three. Heard said that it’ll take the team being able to do all the little things right in order to reach the LCS.

“We’ve got to come through in big situations at the plate, get guys in scoring position, get them over and get them in,” Heard said. “At the end of the day, we’ve just got to score more runs than they do.”

Heard led the Big Train with a 2-for-5 day at the plate, along with catcher Jason Schiavone (James Madison), who went 2-for-4 behind an eighth-inning solo homer that got Bethesda on the board.

It was largely a pitchers’ duel, as both starters generally shut down their adversaries. Bethesda pitcher Brandon Cassedy (Christopher Newport) went seven innings on the mound, striking out five and allowing two earned runs. On the other side, Marose carried a shutout into the eighth, but Heard’s clutch home run broke up what otherwise would’ve been a complete game victory. He allowed just five hits over 8.2 innings, and just one of his three runs allowed was earned.

Big Train reliever Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic) earned the win after sealing the deal in extras. Martzolf came into the game in the 10th inning and silenced the Cropduster bats, striking out four and holding Olney to just one hit in the final three innings.

The game began as a defensive battle, with each team managing hits early, but neither was able to bring their runners home. In the sixth, the visitors finally broke the game wide open. With two outs, Cropdusters designated hitter Jack Cannizzaro (James Madison) lined a hit off of Cassedy’s leg, reaching first base safely to extend the inning. Olney took advantage of its opportunity, as John Seibert (Millersville) hammered a 398-foot moon shot over the center field scoreboard to take the 2-0 lead.

Cassedy’s day was done after seven innings on the mound, opening up a window for the Cropdusters to add to their advantage. Big Train reliever Austin Morris (Alabama) walked a pair of runners in the eighth, and Seibert once again answered the bell. He smacked a two-out hit to center field, scoring Brayden Martin (Maryland) from 180 feet out. Matt Miura (Hawaii), who started on first, tried to take third in the chaos, but a throw from home ended the inning to keep the damage to just a run.

Bethesda did not lay down and quit, though. In the bottom of the inning, Schiavone answered back with a two-out home run of his own, breaking up Marose’s shutout bid. The long ball cut Bethesda’s deficit to 3-1 entering the ninth.

Following three quick Olney outs and falling down to their final out themselves, the Big Train had one last chance at a miracle. Jacob Orr (Maryland) grounded a ball to third, but with a chance to end the game, third baseman Taye Robinson’s (Towson) throw rolled past Dane Camphausen (Case Western) at first, and Orr ended up safe at second. That was the only second chance the Big Train needed, as Heard crushed the game-tying home run far into the trees behind right field in the ensuing at-bat. 

Both teams flashed the leather in extra innings, led by diving stops and stretching grabs, as neither team could get runners in scoring position. The Big Train finally cracked the defensive masterclass in the 12th inning after Theodore Ruffner (Youngstown State) led off the frame by dropping a double down the left field line. Two intentional walks later, the bases were loaded with just one out. Facing an 0-2 count, Casey Bishop (Towson) ended the game, slicing a weak grounder up the third base line that gave Ruffner just enough time to score the winning run.

The second game of the LCS Semifinals between the Big Train and Cropdusters is slated for 4:30 p.m. Monday from Olney. If necessary, a third game would be played on Tuesday evening in Bethesda.