Poised Pitching Propels Thunderbolts to 3-0 Victory Over Braves
LORTON, JULY 11—The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (9-21) just defeated the Metro SoCo Braves (13-15) 3-0 for their first back-to-back wins of the season. In a funky scenario, the TBolts hopped into a time travel machine to finish this game.
This battle originally began at Blair Stadium on June 12. Before the first pitch, members of the Takoma community chorus sang the National Anthem for the Thunderbolts fans. All-Star pitcher Christian Dray (Richmond) made the start, and he drizzled the Braves with a quick 1-2-3 inning. The righty registered two strikeouts—the first one occurred with a curveball, and the second from a high fastball.
After a scoreless top half of the second inning, cracks of thunder were heard in the distance. Teams entered into a weather delay, and members of the Takoma chorus began to sing “Take Me out to the Ballgame.” Lightning and rain came sweltering down at 7:45, and the field was deemed unplayable; the game was officially postponed.
The “ballgame” the Takoma chorus sang of did not resume until 5 P.M. tonight. This time, the TBolts took the diamond at South County High School in Lorton, VA. Although this game came a month later, Dray was still tasked to take down the Braves bats.
Metro SoCo got off on the right foot by loading the bags in the third inning. However, pressure made diamonds for Dray, who struck out Robert Kelly (Monmouth) with a fiery fastball.
Dray exited after one inning with a tweaked back, and it gave way for John McGowan (Trinity) to make his third stint on the mound this summer. McGowan threw four fruitful innings, struck out four, and allowed one hit.
For Metro SoCo, Gavin Elliot (Marymount) was surgical through his first three innings. The righty allowed just two hits until that point, but the Thunderbolts struck mightily in the fourth inning. To lead things off, All-Star Gabe Pegues (Lynchburg) bashed his team-leading third home run of the season to right field. This homer was reminiscent of the dinger Pegues demolished in Lorton on June 25.
After a 4-4 night against DC, Mason Kelleher (Frostburg St.) continued his hot hitting with a double to left center—this extended Kelleher’s on-base streak to seven. Cam Baker (Indian River St.) recorded an RBI groundout, and Aydin Prell (Dickinson) socked a sac fly to right-center. At the conclusion of the fourth, the Thunderbolts led 3-0.
Kelly secured the first base hit off of McGowan, but not before a highlight play ended the sixth inning. Owen Peltier (VMI) hit a shallow fly ball, and Marco Pulizzi (Millersville) came flying in for a diving catch onto the right field grass.
With his slithery slider, McGowan got James Robinson (Dickinson) to strike out swinging to end the seventh. After his illustrious night ended, the righty was serenaded by his teammates heading to the dugout.
Aidan Watts (Rochester) made his seventh appearance on the hill for the TBolts in the seventh inning. With his fastball and slider, Watts threw two innings, allowed one hit, and secured his first save for Silver Spring-Takoma.
On the pitching side, Dray, McGowan, and Watts allowed three hits and struck out 10 Braves. Incredibly, the pitching staff has allowed just five hits in these past two games. In total, the TBolt offense tallied seven hits, drew three walks, and plated all of their runs in the fourth inning.
Game two of this doubleheader is currently underway. Unlike game one, this one will only go for seven innings.