NEWS

By Tim Wilcox

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Gaithersburg was down to its final two outs when Danny Sheeler (Salisbury) stepped to the plate. With runners on second and third, Sheeler lined a single to left field to bring in both runners and win the game in walkoff fashion.

Monday night, neither the Giants or the Big Train could build more than a one run lead at any point. Bethesda took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, positioned for victory before Sheeler’s game-sealing hit. 

“The biggest thing that we did today was we just kept fighting and fighting and never never let it out (of our hands),” Giants Head Coach TJ Brockway said.

 

WALKOFF in the @CalRipkenLeague.
Danny Sheeler (@danny_sheeler) lifts a single to bring in 2 runs to lift the @Gburg_Giants to a 4-3 win over the Big Train. The @SalisburyBB product delivers. pic.twitter.com/wUKXvNHMMJ

— Timmy Wilcox (@TimmyWilcox32) June 11, 2024

 

The Big Train and Giants entered Monday’s game tied atop the North Division standings. Now, Gaitherburg enters the off day in first place. The bats for both teams were quiet for most of the contest, with teams capitalizing off of walks, errors and well-timed hits to get runners on base.

In the first inning, multiple runners reached base for both teams but all were stranded, keeping the game scoreless.

The Giants jumped on the board in the third inning as Brady Powell (Radford) singled and scored on an error to take a 1-0 lead. Gaithersburg maintained its lead through four innings behind Hank Lippman’s (William & Mary) ability to work out of jams with runners in scoring position.

But, in the fifth, the Big Train drew their seventh walk, which quickly forced Lippman out of the game. Bethesda loaded the bases, earning two more walks in the inning before Jack Guerrero (James Madison) delivered a two-out single to give the Big Train a 2-1 lead.

Bethesda held onto its lead until the seventh when two of the first three Giants’ batters reached base. Powell continued his strong day at the plate, crushing a double to bring in Tanner Vicendese (East Stroudsburg) and tie the game.

The Giants had runners on second and third, but reliever Max Martzolf (Florida Atlantic) forced two groundouts – the first one getting Sheeler – to end the inning.

With the contest tied 2-2 in the eighth inning, Bethesda pinch hitter Andrew Williamson (Central Florida) lifted a sacrifice fly to give the Big Train a 3-2 lead.

After Gaithersburg couldn’t respond in their half of the eighth, Jake Plainte (Brown) came in for the top of the ninth. He faced just three batters, retiring Bethesda quickly and getting the Giants to the bottom of the frame, looking to tie the game.

Needing one run to even things up, Brendan Kleiman (Eastern Michigan) worked an infield single, representing the tying run.

“Getting that leadoff guy on to start the inning is really a huge factor,” Sheeler said. “That just jump starts the whole inning.”

Following Kleiman, Cade Hentz (Jacksonville) laid down a bunt single and Powell moved the runners over into scoring position.

As Sheeler came to the plate, he remembered that Martzolf had been throwing him outside pitches, so he refined his strategy.

“(Martzolf) was working me out on my last at bat and going into (my final at bat) I knew he was going to still be working me out,” Sheeler said. “So I tried to let the ball get deeper then I was in my previous at bats and not trying to do too much.”

He got a pitch he was looking for and drilled it, putting the finishing touches on the back and forth contest. In a game that hits were hard to come by, Sheeler’s made the difference.

“I explained to (the team) straight up ‘you guys are here to hit,’” Brockway said. “I asked the guys to execute small ball and they did it to perfection.”

After the off day, the Big Train take on the Cropdusters Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at First Responder Field by SERVPRO. The Giants continue their homestand as they face the Thunderbolts Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Criswell Field.