It's Déjà vu All Over Again; TBolts Fall 7-6 in Waldorf for Second Time
WALDORF, JULY 20—For the second time this summer, the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (11-26) walked into Waldorf looking to squander the Southern Maryland Senators (23-14). And for the second time this summer, the Senators walked off the Thunderbolts in a 7-6 comeback win.
On June 16, the Thunderbolts took an early 5-0 lead over the Sens, lost the lead, and were walked off by James Carlson (Youngstown State) on a home run. Last night, the TBolts took a 3-0 lead, and the Senators walked things off in a different manner.
On June 16, Jacob Seek (Chesapeake) made the start against Southern Maryland (the team he’s played for the previous two summers). Seek hit the hill for the TBolts once more last night. The southpaw sawed easily through the first inning by striking out back-to-back Sens looking.
For the Senators, starting pitcher Brody Juntunen (Florida Atlantic) jousted with the TBolts’ bats. In the first, Juntunen magically worked an immaculate inning. On nine pitches, the righty registered three straight strikeouts swinging.
In the top of the second, TBolts second baseman Matthew Kim (Hampden-Sydney) came through with a special spark to ignite the Thunderbolts offense. The righty saw a fastball down the middle, and thrashed a three-run homer to left-center field; the TBolts dugout erupted in elation, and greeted Kim graciously in the dugout. After playing three seasons for the Thunderbolts, this was the first home run of Kim’s summer career.
“It felt great. I haven’t really come all that close in the last three years, so it’s good to finally get one,” Kim told me after the game.
The hype was short lived, as the Senators juiced the bags with a single and two walks. Right-fielder Kai Lwin (Florida Atlantic) then launched a grand slam to dead-center field in the bottom half of the second. In their 7-6 loss on June 16, Seek saw a grand slam fly off the bat of Bud Coombs (Maryland) in the fourth inning. Last night, the lefty was quadrupled once more, this time by Lwin in the second.
After the grand slam, John McGowan (Trinity) relieved Seek for his fifth appearance of the season. The sidearm righty notched a K to end the helter-skelter second inning. One inning later, Zachary Anderson (Binghamton) zapped a solo homer that just got over the glove of a leaping Joey King (St. Olaf) in left field. After a trailing 3-0, the Sens went up 5-3 with two swings of the bat.
Juntenen continued to tear it up with two strikeouts apiece in the third and fourth innings. In total, the Orlando native notched 11 magical strikeouts, with nine of them coming swinging. This is the most K’s Juntenen has thrown since his six against the Alexandria Aces on June 19. The fastball and curveball combination proved to be poisonous for every TBolt not named Matthew Kim.
In the top of the fifth, Juntenen was replaced by Tyler VanDyke (VMI). The lefty quickly issued two walks, which gave way for the fourth TBolts run. With runners on the corners, All-Star Gabe Pegues (Lynchburg) pieced a right-field sac fly to score a speedy Kim. Two innings later, Pegues punched a ball to left that caromed off the glove of Jack Euart (Wofford). This unearned run nodded the score at 5-5.
In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Matthew Calabrese (Rider) marched to the mound for the TBolts. The sidearm righty surrendered three quick singles to load the bases before a chaotic sequence of events.
To start, second baseman Aydin Prell (Dickinson) threw Jackson Hays (Yale) out at home with a fielder’s choice forceout. One batter later, Calabrese shoveled a short squibber to home for another force, and catcher Kai Schmelzer (Gulf Coast State) looked to double ‘em up with a throw to Connor Frickey (Babson) at first. The throw beat him by a mile, but the umpire ruled that Frickey stepped off the bag. This allowed a racing Euart to score at home, and gave the Sens a 6-5 lead.
The Thunderbolts responded with a ruckus of their own in the top of the eighth. Joey King came through with a clutch RBI single past a diving Chase Fulford (Binghamton) at shortstop. King’s single tied the score at 6-6.
In the bottom of the eighth, EJ Youngling (Moravian) was tasked to contain the Senators offense. Fulford fired a single to lead things off, but eventually was thrown out stealing second base by catcher Kai Schmelzer. Youngling secured two strikeouts to end the frame, and it set up a ninth-inning photo finish.
In the top half, Schmelzer socked a leadoff double, and Trent Lopez (Cornell) lasered a left-field single to put runners on the corners with one out. Senators reliever Aidan Kee (Keystone) responded promptly by forcing two TBolts popouts.
As they have done all summer, Southern Maryland made some late game magic to seal the deal. After Zachary Anderson popped out to center, Jack Euart perfectly placed a double over the third base bag and down the left field line. After his second inning grand slam, Kai Lwin unleashed a hard hit chopper, which ricocheted off the body of Connor Frickey at first. Euart came dashing home, and Southern Maryland stapled themselves yet again as the comeback kids.
For the fourth time this season, the Thunderbolts held a three-plus run lead over the Senators, and failed to finish the job. From the early Thunderbolts home run(s), to the Senators grand slam, to the walk-off play, and the 7-6 final score—this game eerily replicates the matchup these two teams had June 16 at North Point High School.
Silver Spring-Takoma is back tonight for a doubleheader against the Bethesda Big Train (25-11) at Blair Stadium.