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RECAP: Big Train Sweep Aces to Win Tenth League Title
The Bethesda Big Train pose with the Cal Ripken Sr. League championship trophy. Photo by Sage Russell.
By Brandon Schwartzberg
Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic) took a deep breath on the mound with a raucous Shirley Povich Field crowd cheering behind him before firing a 1-2 pitch that Tim Nicholson (George Washington) smacked to left field.
Jacob Orr (University of Maryland) ran to his right before making the catch just in front of the fence.
The Big Train bench emptied towards the mound. Then came the dog pile. Bethesda clinched the 2023 Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League title.
The Big Train defeated the Aces at home Friday night, 7-3, to secure their 10th CRSCBL championship in club history.
Despite narrowly winning its division by just one game, almost falling to the Cropdusters in the semifinals, and losing seven more games than the Aces in the regular season, Bethesda swept Alexandria in the championship series.
“We never give up. We just know how to start off high and never look back and never give the other team an opportunity to come back in the game,” Martzolf said. “It proved the last two games and even in the first round against the Cropdusters. Just give us an opportunity to win a ballgame and you don’t have a chance.”
Martzolf excelled in relief, firing the final 2.2 innings for Bethesda en route to the victory. The left-hander entered in a tough jam in the top of the seventh with the Big Train ahead by three: runners on first and second, only one batter retired in the frame.
“My mindset was just attack the zone, let my defense do the work,” Martzolf said. “I’ve been told I know how to get ahead in the count early with my fastball. Fortunately it was able to work tonight.”
Just like Martzolf did in the semifinals — he kept the Cropdusters off the scoreboard over 4.2 innings — he escaped with no damage done, striking out Dylan Grego (Ball State) before inducing an Alex Wade (Auburn) groundout.
Martzolf was put in a spot to succeed because of the dominant start from Jack Hostetler (Whitman). Hostetler hadn’t pitched in the semifinals, last throwing on July 18 against the Aces in the regular season. That gave him an advantage entering the night.
“I was off of plenty of rest, I was keeping it light in the weight room,” Hostetler said. “Kind of just hanging around, waiting for my opportunity. And I’m just grateful I got it today.”
Hostetler allowed just one run, two walks and three hits over 6.1 innings, punching out five in the process in his longest outing of the season. The lone pressure he faced came in the top of the second.
Jonah Oster (Campbell) reached base to start the frame on a dropped third strike, Matt Ossenfort (Vanderbilt) followed with an inside-out single through the five-six hole, and Nick Gregory (Ball State) brought Oster home on a sacrifice fly to right for the first score of the day.
But Hostetler included a six-four-three double-play on the following pitch to limit the damage to one. The Aces’ lineup combined for just two singles and two walks beyond the second inning.
“My mindset was just attack low in the zone and trust my defense, and that obviously worked out for me,” Hostetler said. “They definitely hit some barrels off me today but my fielder’s [were] able to glove it up and that’s all you can ask from them.”
Offensively, the Big Train scored their seven runs in unconventional ways.
Jason Schiavone (James Madison) — the League Championship Series Most Outstanding Player — led off the bottom of the second with a double off the wall in center before advancing to third on a passed ball and crossing home on a wild pitch to even the contest at one.
Bethesda struck for three in the bottom of the sixth to take its first lead of the night on a pair of Alexandria errors. And the Big Train notched another three-spot the following inning on a Jack Guerrero (UNC Wilmington) RBI single and more errors from the Aces.
Alexandria’s lineup made things interesting in the ninth, as Nicholson stepped into the batter’s box with two runners on after Ossenfort and Gregory had already scored in the inning.
But then Martzolf found the final out he needed to clinch the game, the series, and the league championship for the Big Train.
