T-BOLTS TAKE ON CROPDUSTERS ONCE AGAIN FOR FIFTH TIME THIS SEASON
OLNEY, JUNE 26- What else is new. The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (5-14) have to spend another Friday night under the lights at First Responder Field, home of the Olney Cropdusters (14-6). Not only have these teams seen each other on countless occasions, this will be the third time in three weeks they square off for a North Division showdown.
Matthew Kim has been a great plug and play option, scrapping his way to hits and picking it up the middle.
So far, the Cropdusters lead the season series 4-0 against the T-Bolts. Not to mention, they currently hold the best record in the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball league, posing as the best threat to bring the first title to Olney by the end of the summer.
All the T-Bolts are looking to do is get the season back on track. After an 8-4 loss to the Metro South County Braves, the bullpen had to cover six innings behind left-hander Zach Bortner’s (Jr., Frederick CC) two inning start and is in the midst of a long stretch of baseball.
Olney is currently riding a three-game win streak into tonight, and while the offense has continued to be lethal, the pitching has completely locked things down. They’ve given up a combined three runs during their win streak, one in each game.
This means that not only do the T-Bolts need to bring their best on the mound against a lineup that’s seen them well, hitters have to prepare for Olney’s best since their pitching staff is on a heater.
The Cropdusters’ offense brings some serious thump, and catcher Landon Springmeyer (Sr., Northern Kentucky) is a huge part of it. He’s third in the league in RBIs at 20, next to his teammate at second base Logan Baratta (So., Jacksonville), who has 19. Springmeyer is tied for the league in home runs at four.
Joey King made a phenomenal catch in the last game between the T-Bolts and Cropdusters.
When the Dusters have a need for speed, Donis Rodriguez (Jr., Millersville) is there to save the day. His 11 stolen bases are third best in the league and three behind T-Bolts’ utility man Jona Aosta’s (So., UNF) league-leading 14.
A driving force behind the pitching success for the Cropdusters is the latest pitcher of the week in the Ripken League, Ben Jones (Jr., West Chester). The righty notched a win without allowing a run in eight innings out of the bullpen with nine strikeouts.
Keep an eye on T-Bolts middle infielder Matthew Kim (Sr., Hampden-Sydney) today, who’s 3-7 against the Dusters and could see more action after shortstop Collin Gibbs (Jr., U of Delaware) exited last night’s game due to injury. Outfielder Joey King (So., St. Olaf) also had a great game last time the Bolts were in Olney on June 19, robbing a home run and picking up two hits in the process.
On the Cropdusters’ side, second baseman Patrick Gozdan (Jr., West Chester)has a .406 batting average with eight RBIs on the season. Five of them came against the Bolts on June 13. First baseman Cadeyrn Ahearn (Jr., Lehigh) is hitting .300 on the T-Bolts in three games so far this summer.
Brady Grimes takes the mound hoping to right the ship for the T-Bolts
Right-hander Brady Grimes (Jr., Millersville) will get the ball tonight, after his four innings of one-run ball against the Bethesda Big Train on June 11 was officially put in the books on June 13. He’s lived up to the ace billing he got by making the start on opening day, posting a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 total innings with ten punchouts.
This one isn’t too far from Blair Baseball Stadium, so if you don’t have anything else to do on a Friday night, come on out to support the T-Bolts! If you can’t make it, tune into the Thunderbolts YouTube Channel as Peter Kelly and Sam Bergstrom will bring you all the action.