NEWS

By David Schurter

After the Alexandria Aces defeated the Silver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts 18–4 in game one of their semifinals series, one would think the Aces would cruise to a win in game two. Well, think again. The Aces and Thunderbolts exchanged blows in  one of the most wild games of the summer so far. It ended with the Aces winning 6–5 in the 11th inning to sweep the Thunderbolts and advance to their third straight Cal Ripken Sr. League Championship Series.

The Aces early on looked like they were ready to move on as in the top of the first inning, Jonah Oster (Campbell) led the way early for the Aces with an RBI double to left center to give Alexandria an early 1–0 lead. In the top of the fourth inning, Oster struck again for another RBI double to make it 2–1 Aces, after the Thunderbolts had tied the game in the third on a Matthew Sicoli (Emory) RBI single.

Meanwhile, Evan Rishell (Millersville) took the bump for the Thunderbolts. On a night when his team was facing elimination, he gave them everything he had, keeping the Aces powerful lineup in check and the game close. Rishell’s final line was 6.2 innings, two runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

While Rishell was holding down the Aces’ offense, the Thunderbolts offense helped him out and gave him a 3–2 lead after the fifth inning. The Thunderbolts scored one run in three consecutive innings, and in the bottom of the fifth they took the lead on another RBI single from Sicoli, who had a great night at the plate reaching base safely four times and driving in three runs.

After the Thunderbolts added another run in the bottom of the seventh on an Amani Jones (Stevenson) RBI single, the Aces came storming back in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 4–4. The two runs scored thanks to some sloppy pitching and defense from the Thunderbolts, as an error from the third baseman on a throw from center field allowed RJ Hamilton (Vanderbilt) to trot home, and then a wild pitch two batters later allowed Gavin Miller (Auburn) to tie the game.

Once again, in a tie game with the season on the line, the Thunderbolts offense came up to the plate with another chance to take the lead, and they did. Sicoli delivered once again as he did all night, coming up with an RBI single to give the Thunderbolts a 5–4 lead in the bottom of the eighth, looking to force a game three in Alexandria on Tuesday night.

However, the Aces, not wanting to play a third game, came out swinging in the top of the ninth. Dylan Grego (Ball State) sped to third on a triple, and Asa Wilson (Penn) came through with a game-tying RBI single to nod the score at 5–5. After the Thunderbolts failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, the game moved into extra innings

Both teams had their chances in the tenth inning, putting multiple runners on and moving them into scoring position, but neither team could get the job done. In the top of the 11th inning, the Aces were ready to end this exciting game, as they loaded the bases with nobody out, leading to a go-ahead RBI walk to Tim Nicholson (George Washington). That walk put the Aces up 6–5 and they would close it out with a clean bottom of the twelfth, as the lights at Blair High School went out, seemingly ending the Thunderbolts 2023 season in extra innings.

After the game, Aces’ manager Chris Berset gave the Thunderbolts credit as they made the Aces fight for every hit and run.

“[Brock Hunter]’s a good coach over there and those guys aren’t gonna go down easily by any means and what a battle they put on us,” Berset said. “We just found a way to win at the end, but hat tip to them and Brock for getting those guys rolling, it was an absolute grind to get by them.”

As the Aces await their opponent in the League Championship Series, Berset said he expects it to be a competitive series, regardless of the opponent.

“An absolute dogfight,” Berset said. “Both of those teams are great teams, the Big Train and the Cropdusters. We gotta play a little better baseball, as tonight we were sloppy at times, so we just have to play some better baseball as this is where the real fun begins.”

The Aces will await the winner of game three between the Olney Cropdusters and Bethesda Big Train, which is scheduled for Tuesday night at Shirley Povich Field.