NEWS

By Taylor Bretl

In what was a back-and-forth contest for nearly four hours, the Alexandria Aces scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead 13-11. They held onto that lead to defeat the rival Bethesda Big Train and improve to a league best 13-5 on the season.

The game set foot with the Aces getting ahead early. In the bottom of the first, Jamie Quinn-Irons (George Mason) doubled, bringing in Tim Nicholson (George Washington) and Jonathan Peltier (Wright State).

The following inning, Big Train pitcher Jacob Villar (Santa Barbara CC) started things off by retiring the first two batters in four pitches. The strong start got interrupted however, as Peltier reached base on a single. Up next, Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine) cracked a two-bagger into right field, sending Peltier across home. Following the double, Quinn-Irons knocked in the Aces fourth run of the night.

Moving to the top of the third, the Big Train fought back. A five-run third inning gave them their first lead of the game, 5-4. All five runs  scored in four straight at-bats, capped off with a three-run-home run by Emilio Gonzalez (Florida Atlantic).

In the bottom of the frame, the Aces swiped two runs back. AJ DePaolo (Vanderbilt) tripled down the right field line, piggybacked by a Nicholson double to tie things up at five apiece. Three batters later, Quinn-Irons collected his third hit, and fourth RBI of the game in just three innings, driving in Nicholson to take a 6-5 lead.

Kicking off the top of the fourth, Bethesda stole the lead back. Following walks by Josh Skowronski (Kentucky) and Jaden Bastian (Jacksonville), Andrew Williamson (Central Florida) rocketed a triple to right field, sending them both home. Later in the inning with bases loaded, one more runner crossed home, this time on a full count walk drawn by Gonzalez, putting the Big Train ahead 8-6.

In the bottom half, the Aces mirrored the Big Train, putting up a three-run inning themselves. Following Brendan Harrity (Western Michigan) and Sam Robertson (Auburn) reaching on back-to-back pitches, DePaolo cracked a double down the left field line, driving Harrity home. Two pitches later, Nicholson singled to dead center, bringing Robertson and DePaolo home for a 9-8 Alexandria lead.

After a strong offensive half inning, the Aces' Quinn Yellin (Maryland) threw a scoreless fifth:  he faced three batters, retiring the side in 13 pitches. In the bottom of the inning, Kevin Milewski (Seton Hall) blasted a solo home run to right-center field, extending the lead to 10-8.

As the game entered the sixth, the Big Train bats continued to fight. After drawing three straight walks to load the bases, Gonzalez got a hold of a fastball right on the screws, clearing the bases on a double to take an 11-10 lead.

Shortly after, the Aces would get right back in it. Peltier poked a single into shallow center field, knotting the contest back up.

With the game tied at 11-11 entering the seventh, both bullpens tossed scoreless innings.

Transitioning to the eighth, the Aces tossed another scoreless inning to keep the game tied. As the frame flipped, so did the score. Peltier and Jenkins each drew full count walks, bringing Quinn-Irons up to bat. In the third straight full count, Quinn-Irons got a hold of one, smoking a double to the left-field gap, driving in both runners to give the Aces a 13-11 lead. Quinn-Irons would end his night going 4-5 with six runs-batted-in and a walk.

Needing three more outs to secure the win, Alexandria manager Chris Berset kept in Paul Witkop (Richmond) to close things out. The right-hander retired the side in just nine pitches, securing a 13-11 victory.

The Aces now hold a 4.5 game lead in the South Division, while the Big Train fall four games behind the North Division-leading Gaithersburg Giants.