THUNDERBOLTS GET RUN OVER 14-3 IN A MELANCHOLY MORNING LOSS TO BIG TRAIN
BETHESDA, JUNE 14—Earlier this morning, the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (1-7) lost for their third time against the Bethesda Big Train (5-3). Although it was a sunny 90 degrees throughout the game, Big Train hit the Thunderbolts with a brutal cold morning shower in their 14-3 performance.
Here’s a recap of the action that unfolded at Shirley Povich Field.
Griffin Roussell (Jr., Point Park) made his first start of 2026 after a five-strikeout outing on June 9 against the Gaithersburg Giants. In three innings pitched, Roussell struck out three Big Train batters with a flurry of fastballs and curveballs. He also had a nice pickoff play to nab a Bethesda runner taking off to third on a stolen base attempt.
A wide array of wild throws by the TBolts plated two runs for the Big Train in the second inning. Sacrifice flies arrived for Bethesda in the third and fourth, and Big Train chugged to a 6-0 lead. Ryan Foscolo (So., Kentucky) added to the frenzy with a three-run homer that was launched over the left field fence at Shirley Povich Field.
Vincent Anzidei (So., Dominican) made his TBolt pitching debut in the fifth inning. The right-handed pitcher calmed the storm by striking out two batters, and working two innings of scoreless ball.
The Thunderbolts benefitted from serendipity in the sixth to score their first runs of the contest. Gabriel Pegues (So., Lynchburg) looped a ball to center field, where a cloud of three Big Train defenders watched the ball dunk in. Afterward, Jona Acosta (So., North Florida) hit a chopper over the first baseman to bring home Pegues. With the bases loaded, Mason Kelleher (So., Frostburg St.) hustled and reached on a fielder’s choice to make it 9-2.
Following his RBI, Kelleher made the defensive play of the day in the bottom of the sixth. After a weak pop up was hit down the first base line, Kelleher made a diving basket catch while falling to his knees toward the Thunderbolt dugout.
In the eighth, Sam Camacho Jr. (So., Clarion) slapped a base hit to center field to drive in the TBolts’ fourth run. Kelleher provided another nice play by darting the runner out in a stolen base attempt to second. However, the Big Train added three more runs off of an error, double and single to balloon their double digit lead.
In their 14-3 loss, the Thunderbolts had seven hits compared to Bethesda’s eight, and they had only three walks compared to Big Train’s ten. Silver Spring-Takoma committed three total errors on the day, and four of Bethesda’s runs came courtesy of these errors.
Jack Sams (So., Kentucky), Bradley Gagen (Jr., Eastern Kentucky), and Tyrese Johnson (Jr., UT Martin) all had superb performances on the mound for Bethesda. Neither of these three pitchers allowed more than three hits in their outings.
Silver Spring-Takoma will head to Blair Baseball Stadium tomorrow night to face the Alexandria Aces (5-3) in a makeup match from June 10.