Big Train Fall to Redbirds

Big Train Fall to Redbirds Box Score: L, 3-7 In a matchup between the Baltimore Redbirds and the Bethesda Big Train on Wednesday night, the Redbirds won 7-3 and advanced to the finals of the CRCBL playoffs, while Bethesda fell into the losers bracket with a chance to redeem themselves on Thursday night.    Brock Larson (San Francisco) received the starting nod and went two and a third of an inning giving up four runs on three hits. Henry Sisson (North Carolina) came out of the bullpen and in relief, pitched five and two thirds of an inning giving up five hits and one run while striking out six. The Redbirds scored four runs on two hits in the top of the 3rd inning, taking a 4-0 lead. The Redbirds added to their lead, scoring one run on three hits in the 5th inning. The Big Train looked to have a big 8th inning but only brought home one run on three walks, cutting the lead to 5-1. However, the Redbirds scored two more insurance runs in the 9th inning to go ahead 7-1. In the bottom of the 9th, Wes Rea (Mississippi State) doubled down the left field line, scoring Chris Lewis (Sacramento State), who walked to get on base.  Rea later scored on a passed ball but it was not enough to overcome the large deficit. The Big Train will play the Rockville Express on Thursday night at 7:30 pm.  The loser will be eliminated and the winner will play the Redbirds in the CRCBL Championship.

2014 CRCBL Standings    TEAM W L % GB BIG TRAIN  31 9 .775  - Baltimore Redbirds 25 15 .625 6 Rockville Express 24 16 .600 7 Gaithersburg Giants 23 17 .575 8 Alexandria Aces 23 17 .575 8 Youse's Orioles 18 22 .450 13 Vienna River Dogs 18 22 .450 13 FCA Herndon Braves 17 23 .425 14 D.C. Grays 15 25 .375 16 Baltimore Dodgers 13 27 .325 18 SS-Takoma TBolts 13 27 .325 18

First Big Train Home Playoff Game TOMORROW! BT Wins Montgomery Cup

TOMORROW: First Playoff Game! To make sure that you are up to date with the schedule for the CRCBL Playoffs, visit www.CalRipkenLeague.org andwww.BigTrain.org frequently.  The seeds for the 2014 League Championship Series are as follows: #1 - BETHESDA BIG TRAIN #2 - Baltimore Redbirds #3 - Rockville Express #4 - Gaithersburg Giants #5 - Alexandria Aces #6 - Youse's Orioles The Express will host the Orioles at 7:00 and the Giants will host the Aces at 7:00 today.  Both games will be single elimination.  After the winners of today's games are decided, the teams will be re-seeded and the Big Train will host the lowest remaining team while the Redbirds will host the higher seed. Both of those games will take place Tuesday night.  On Wednesday, the winners of the two Tuesday games will play each other while the losers will match up as well.  Both games will be played at the higher seeded team.  By virtue of the Big Train's #1 seed, this guarantees a Wednesday night home game as well.  Tickets to both games can be purchased here or at the gate.

Final Montgomery Cup Results  The Bethesda Big Train team has won the 2014 Montgomery Cup.  The winner of the Montgomery Cup is the team with the best record in regular season head-to-head competition among the four Montgomery County teams in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Summer Baseball League.  The Montgomery Cup is sponsored by the Gazette newspapers.   The Gazette also provided advertising and made donations to all four of the teams. With this victory, the Big Train team has either won the Montgomery Cup or shared first place in nine out of the past ten seasons. The final standings for the 2014 Montgomery Cup competition are as follows:

2014 CRCBL Standings    TEAM W L % GB BIG TRAIN  31 9 .775  - Baltimore Redbirds 25 15 .625 6 Rockville Express 24 16 .600 7 Gaithersburg Giants 23 17 .575 8 Alexandria Aces 23 17 .575 8 Youse's Orioles 18 22 .450 13 Vienna River Dogs 12 22 .450 13 FCA Herndon Braves 17 23 .425 14 D.C. Grays 15 25 .375 16 Baltimore Dodgers 13 27 .325 18 SS-Takoma TBolts 13 27 .325 18

Big Train Win Regular Season!

Box Score: W, 13-1   Rain was threatening all night, and even delayed the start of the game, but that didn't stop the match up between the top two teams in the league.  The Baltimore Redbirds (25-12) traveled to Bethesda to face the Big Train (30-7) on Wednesday night at the ballpark.  Brock Larson (San Francisco) received the start, and in the 13-1 win tossed six innings, allowing zero runs on four hits while striking out four batters. The Big Train were the first to cross the plate, doing so on one hit in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  Wes Rea (Mississippi St) was hit by a pitch and Andrew Brown (San Diego State) walked before Ryne Willard (N.C. State) knocked them both home for his eighth double of the season, putting the Big Train ahead 2-0 early. Bethesda was back at it in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring four more runs.  Logan Farrar (Virginia Commonwealth) scored on a couple of fielding errors by the Redbirds, after singling to reach base.  Chris Lewis (Sacramento State) singled and scored on a deep two bagger in the left field gap hit by Wes Rea.  Rea, then scored on an RBI single by Cody Brown (Mississippi State).  Brown scored the last run of the inning on Ryne Willard's single. The Redbirds threatened to score in the top of the 4th, but on a fly ball Logan Farrar hit the cutoff man for a perfect relay to Stephen Alemais (Tulane), who roped the ball home for Justin Morris (Maryland) to tag out the runner in a bang-bang play. Wes Rea knocked home Logan Farrar on a single between the shortstop and third baseman in the bottom of the 4th, giving the Big Train a commanding 7-0 lead. Ryne Willard added to his total on the night with an RBI double in the 5th, knocking home Cody Brown who hit a double of his own to reach base. Willard scored on an RBI double by Stephen Alemais to right center field.  The Big Train doubled three times in the inning and extended the lead to 9-0. With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, the Big Train was able to score four runs.  With the bases juiced, Cody Brown hit a single scoring Logan Farrar and Chris Lewis.  Ryne Willard proceeded to hit his third extra base hit of the night with a two-RBI triple scoring Brown and Wes Rea. The Redbirds scored a run in the top of the 9th, but the Big Train crushed the streaking second place Redbirds, 13-1. Notes: Logan Farrar had three singles....Wes Rea reached base four times with two RBIs....Cody Brown was 3-3 with three RBIs....Ryne Willard had one single, two doubles, and a triple with six RBIs.....Friday there is a double header at Povich Field against the Vienna River Dogs.

VIDEO: BT Featured on NBC4  On Sunday night, NBC Washington's News4 Sports AnchorDianna Russini paid a visit to Shirley Povich Field to throw out one of the game's ceremonial first pitches.    Russini spent nearly 30 minutes with the team prior to the game warming up for her baseball debut.    Did the practice and advice that the players gave her pay off? See for yourself by watching here!

2014 CRCBL Standings    TEAM W L % GB BIG TRAIN  30 7 .811  - Baltimore Redbirds 25 12 .675 5 Alexandria Aces 21 16 .568 9 Rockville Express 21 16 .568 9 Gaithersburg Giants 18 17 .514 11 FCA Herndon Braves 16 19 .457 13 Youse's Orioles 16 20 .446 13.5 Vienna River Dogs 15 20 .431 14 SS-Takoma T-Bolts 13 24 .351 17 DC Grays 12 23 .351 17 Baltimore Dodgers 11 25 .306 18.5

Bats Power Big Train Over Braves

Bats Power BT Over Braves Box Score: W, 13-6   The Bethesda Big Train (28-7) traveled to Herndon to take on the Braves (16-16) on Monday night.  The Big Train looked to bounce back after a loss the previous night and in the 13-6 win, Sean Labsan (Florida Atlantic) got the started nod and in five innings of work gave up two runs on two hits while striking out an outstanding 10 batters.   The Big Train scored early and often.  To kick it off in the top of the 1st inning, Logan Farrar (Virginia Commonwealth) doubled and Brandon Lowe (Maryland) was hit by a pitch.  With both men on, Wes Rea (Mississippi State) clobbered a four bagger, giving the Big Train an early 3-0 lead.   The Big Train added one run in both the 3rd and 4th innings.  Chris Lewis (Sacramento State) hit a solo homer in the 3rd and Cody Brown (Mississippi State) hit a solo home run in the 4th.    In the bottom of the 4th, the Braves hit a two-run home run to cut the Big Train lead to 5-2.   In the 5th inning, Wes Rea hit his second 3-run dinger of the game, giving him a league leading five on the season and six RBIs in the game.   In the 7th inning, the Big Train added on some extra runs.  Cody Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Chris Lewis.  Then, Albee Weiss (Cal State Northridge) hit a bases clearing single giving them 13 runs on the night.   The Braves added two runs in each of the 6th and 7th inning, but it was not enough.  The Big Train offense exploded for four home runs and 15 hits.   Notes:  Wes Rea had two home runs and six RBIs...Cody Brown and Albee Weiss had two RBI each....Stephen Alemais (Tulane) had three hits....Come out to Povich Field on Tuesday night to watch the Big Train play against the Baltimore Dodgers.

2014 CRCBL Standings    TEAM W L % GB BIG TRAIN  28 7 .800  - Baltimore Redbirds 23 10 .697 4 Alexandria Aces 21 15 .583 7.5 Rockville Express 19 16 .543 9 Gaithersburg Giants 17 16 .515 10 FCA Herndon Braves 16 16 .500 10.5 Vienna River Dogs 15 18 .456 12 Youse's Orioles 13 20 .397 14 SS-Takoma T-Bolts 12 23 .343 16 Baltimore Dodgers 11 22 .333 16 DC Grays 11 23 .324 16.5