TBolts Get Fried 14-1 in a Father's Day Face-Off with Olney
SILVER SPRING, JUNE 21—The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (4-12) went to work against the Olney Cropdusters (12-6) last night at Blair Baseball Stadium. The game remained scoreless for the first three innings, but Olney eventually unleashed mayhem by scoring nine runs in the fourth inning; the Cropdusters never looked back, and secured their twelfth win of the summer.
On Father’s Day, a multitude of families travelled to Blair Stadium to enjoy Sunday evening baseball in Silver Spring. While the crowd of 270 was full of Thunderbolt blue, players from both teams rocked baby blue arm sleeves in honor of the holiday.
Jona Acosta (So., North Florida) led off for the TBolts, and was able to reach after a grounder to short was mishandled before the throw over. He then used his wheels to steal second, and eventually bolted for third base uncontested; Acosta’s thirteen steals now leads the Ripken League in that category. However, the TBolts could not cash in any runs with the runners on the corners.
Will Heyse (So., Stevenson) made his second start of 2026 after a great outing against Alexandria last week. Before the game, Heyse said he looked to keep the command of his pitches, and how he was looking to keep the batters honest. In his honest 2.2 innings, Heyse allowed three hits, issued one walk, and kept his runless season alive. However, he exited in the third inning due to an elbow injury that he suffered after throwing a pitch. It remains uncertain whether this will be a short-term or long-term injury for the 6’3” right-hander.
Without question, this Father’s Day face-off featured a filthy amount of flyouts. Through the first three innings, both teams flew out a combined six times. Outfielder Gabriel Pegues (So., Lynchburg) was a flyout victim to lead off the third inning for the Thunderbolts. After getting under one, Pegues watched as Cropduster outfielders softly collided in left-center; Dylan Melton (So., UMBC) made the catch as he connected with Donis Rodgriguez (Jr., Millersville) on the move.
After three scoreless innings, the Cropdusters exploded for a nuclear nine-run fourth inning. These runs came courtesy of two errors, three RBI singles, two RBI groundouts, and one wild pitch. The Cropdusters scored seven runs with just one out in the fourth, and completely turned a balanced game on its side. The Cropdusters—for reasons unknown—love to do their damage in the fourth inning. On June 4, they posted a 14-run fourth against the TBolts in their 25-1 demolition at Blair.
Michael Preske (So., Cecil CC) ended the rowdy fourth inning by recording the final two outs. Preske shared after the game that he barely threw any pitches in the bullpen, but still had a solid performance on the mound. In his 3.2 innings of relief, the right-hander allowed four hits and struck out three Cropdusters. In the sixth inning, Preske used trickery to secure one of his strikeouts. Usually, the right-hander lets out a heartfelt grunt after all of his fastballs. After a fastball grunt, he decided to grunt on a changeup, and it fooled the batter to swing early for the K.
Despite the lack of scoring, Acosta continued to flash the leather for the Thunderbolts in the fifth inning. The shortstop made a nice grab amdist a Bermuda Triangle of defenders in centerfield, and he picked up his fourth assist with a 6-3 putout to end the inning.
In the seventh inning, Dylan Melton mutilated his first home run of the year into the right field trees, which gave Olney a commanding 11-0 lead. The Cropdusters dialed in for three more runs in the eighth with an RBI single, sacrifice fly, and RBI groundout. Matthew Kim (Sr., Hampden-Sydney) finally got the TBolts on the board with an RBI single to left-center field. The Thunderbolts fell 14-1 after just eight innings due to the Ripken League Mercy Rule.
Cropduster pitchers Ross Lindsey (Jr., Alabama), Ben Jones (Sr., West Chester), and Kyle Rodgers (Sr., West Chester) combined to strike out six TBolts, and allowed just six hits. Jones was deemed the winning pitcher, while TBolt Franco Pistella (So., Oberlin) received the loss. Olney tallied 13 hits, drew 10 walks, and struck out three times last night.
The Thunderbolts are now 0-4 against Olney this season, and will play them four more times this summer. Silver Spring-Takoma remains home tonight to face the Metro SoCo Braves in a makeup match that was rained out on June 12.