The DC Grays played to the weather on Thursday, falling to the Olney Cropdusters by a 10-0 score on a wet and gloomy night at the Olney Boys and Girls Club.
The Grays were 2-0 against Olney heading into the game and are the only team that have beat the Cropdusters in their last 10 contests. The Cropdusters took the lead early, with designated hitter Jimmy Kirk (Millersville) booming a two-run-homerun over the left-center wall in the bottom of the first. Kirk also drove in two more runs in the second inning with a single. Olney went on to a 12 hit game, including a three-hit performance from Hawaii’s Matt Miura. The Grays’ offense, on the other hand, remains stalled. DC logged only three hits, and has just six hits in its last eighteen innings. DC’s starter, Catholic University's Lucky Perrotto, was roughed up - allowing seven hits over his three innings pitched. Alex Jankowski (South Florida) replaced Perrotto on the mound in the fourth, allowing three hits over four innings in another solid outing. Over his two appearances this season, Jankowski has an ERA of 2.25. Kenny Micheals (Wofford) finished out the game for the Grays. The loss dropped the Grays to 5-10 on the season, while the Cropdusters moved to 11-4 and sit in first place of the Ripken League’s North Division. The Grays look to shake off their two game losing skid in a Friday night contest against the Southern Maryland Senators at Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. First pitch is 7 p.m.
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The Silver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts turned the tables on the DC Grays on Tuesday night, shutting down the DC offense and winning a 6-1 decision at Montgomery Blair High School.
A day after putting up nine runs on 10 hits in a win over the T-Bolts, the Grays were held without a hit through five innings. Brayden Stutzman (Wilson College) pitched five no-hit innings before being relieved by Trystan Crawford (Lehigh University). The result was the Thunderbolts third win on the season. Stutzman didn’t throw with great velocity, but the movement on his pitches kept the Grays off balance all night. Meanwhile, Grays starter Adam Fischer (William & Mary) struggled. As was the case in his previous outing, he had difficulty consistently finding the zone. The Thunderbolts took the lead early in a three-walk first inning. Jonathan McMath (Montgomery College- Rockville) singled home two runs – giving the T-Bolts a lead they would not relinquish. Fischer made it through the Thunderbolts’ lineup one time around before being pulled for Caleb Causey (Mississippi Valley State University). Causey helped the Grays bullpen by going four and a third innings of mostly solid work. Pitching to contact, Causey ended up giving up three runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Michael Heckman (Shippensburg University) and a two-RBI single by Colman Calabrese (James Madison University). The Grays had plenty of baserunners, as Stutzman walked seven batters in his five innings of work. DC had difficulty cashing in on those opportunities. The Grays got their lone run in the fifth. After three straight walks, a Parker Goff (BYU) sacrifice fly brought home Derrick Mayes (University of Maryland- Eastern Shore). In the sixth, Joe Marini (Catholic) recorded the Grays first hit with an infield single against T-Bolts reliever Crawford, who gave up just one more hit in the ninth to Aaron Thomas (Wofford College), but that was all the Grays could muster. DC travels to Bethesda on Wednesday as they look to turn it around against the Ripken League powerhouse Big Train. Weather permitting, Lucky Perrotto (Catholic University of America) will be on the mound for the Grays. By: William Franciscus
The DC Grays defeated the Silver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts 9-7 in a high-scoring affair Monday night, at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. The win stopped a two-game losing streak for DC and improved the Grays' record to 5-8. Kamani Davis (Xavier-LA) started and picked up the win for the Grays as Edward Sargent (Maryland Baltimore) was credited with the loss for the T-Bolts. The visitors took an early lead on a Coleman Calabrese (James Madison) two-run home run in the first inning. They added another run on a Johnathan McMath (Montgomery Coll-Rockville) single giving them a 3-0 lead after the top of the second. DC started their comeback in the second inning as Myles Sargent (Maine) scored on a wild pitch. Then Miles Newsome (Brown) singled making it a 3-2 game. The Grays offense came alive in the third inning as a pair of singles by Justin Grech (Lafayette) and Derrick Mayes (Maryland Eastern Shore) gave DC a 4-3 lead. Then DH Evan Bouldin (Delaware State) came up with the bases loaded and unleashed a towering grand slam giving the Grays an 8-3 lead. Bouldin said, “My mindset was to just hit it hard, when you hit it hard good things tend to happen.” The Thunderbolts were able to close the gap in the fifth inning as Amani Jones (Stevenson) hit a three-run homer cutting the DC lead to two. The Grays were able to add an insurance run in the sixth on a Connor Larson (Wofford) single making it 9-6. Takoma tacked on one more run on a McMath home run, but the game would end 9-7. Ryan Wheeler (Alvernia) closed out the game for DC, going three innings, giving up one run on two hits in another solid relief outing. A couple of key offensive performances spurred the Grays to victory. Bouldin ended the game with two hits and four RBI and two runs scored. Miles Newsome also had a two-hit night for DC. The Grays and the Thunderbolts will be back in action Tuesday in a make up game at Montgomery Blair High School at 7 o'clock. When talking about the quick turnaround between the two teams Bouldin said “We are feeling pretty confident right now, especially after a great team win like that.” By: Duncan Weigand
Washington D.C- The DC Grays (4-8) dropped their second straight game on Sunday, falling to the Alexandria Aces (9-2) by a score of 5-3. A combination of timely hits and solid relief work by the Aces pitchers allowed Alexandria to prevail in the Sunday matinee. The Grays quickly found themselves in a 2-0 hole after three innings. In the fourth inning however, the Grays started to dig themselves out with a Miles Newsome (Brown) single. Parker Goff (BYU) then took advantage of an Aces fielding error when he popped up the fifth pitch he saw to shallow left. The Aces left fielder Nate Polo (University of Pennsylvania) charged in hard as the ball continued to fall. What seemed to be such a routine play became anything but as Polo failed to make the grab as he watched the ball go in and out of his glove. That seemed to be the catalyst of things to come as the Grays managed to plate three runs in the inning to take the 3-2 lead. The lead didn’t last for long however as DC’s bullpen faltered in the sixth. Lucky Perotto (Catholic) replaced the starter Diego Barrett (WVU Potomac State) - and soon a couple hits, a wild pitch, and a walk put ducks on the pond for the Aces with no outs. Perrotto managed to limit the damage in an inning that could have been disastrous, but the Aces plated two and regained the lead. Alexandria never looked back and one more insurance run in the eighth proved to be too much to overcome. D.C made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth when they managed to put two runners on with one out. Two batters came to the plate representing the winning run and both struck out as Aces closer Michael Gillen (Seton Hall) managed to shut the door leaving no room for fanfare or dramatics. The Grays look to get back in the win column as they welcome theSilver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts to the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy at 7 p.m. for the last game of the Pride Weekend homestand. Another promising start turned into disappointment for the DC Grays on Saturday night. The Grays watched a 6-2 seventh inning lead turn a 7-6 defeat to the South Coubty Braves at the Washington Nationals Yourh Academy.
As has been the case several times this season, things started well for the Grays. Catholic University's Stevie Thomas kicked off the fun for DC, scoring early in the second inning on a wild pitch. Henry Zipay (Nebraska Omaha) and Michael Mallus (Lafayette) quickly followed suit, scoring off of a perfectly placed single from Layfayettes’ Justin Grech. The Braves had a response, and put two up during the top of the fourth, but their efforts were not enough to take the lead back from the Grays. DC held onto its lead through the seventh, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth and tacking on one more in the sixth. Zipay and Grech were in the middle of things in the fourth, scoring with the help of singles from Brown University's Miles Newsome and Delaware States’ Evan Bouldin. Connor Larson (Wofford) logged the last run for DC. The game turned when South County scored five runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead - an inning that featured three pitchers for the Grays. Caleb Causey (Mississippi Valley State) started the inning on the mound for the Grays, and was relieved by Kyle Tyler (Valparaiso) who had the front row seat to a majority of the Braves' damage. After the Braves put up three runs on Tyler, Bouldin took the mound, allowing two unearned runs to finish out the inning. Bouldin pitched the remainder of the contest, allowing no runs for the final two innings and no earned runs over the day. Tyler was eventually handed the pitching loss, with the win awarded to Braves pitcher Sean Harasin (Penn St Greater Allegheny). The loss bumped the Grays (4-7) to fourth place the South Division of the Ripken League where the Braves (5/6) sit in second. The Grays won’t see the Braves again until June 28th. However, DC will host the Alexandria Aces at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 18th for a special Fayher's Day matinee The DC Grays extended their win streak to two on Friday, behind a dominating outing by Eddie Kaftan (Mitchell). DC defeated the Gaithersburg Giants 5-0 in an all-around impressive performance at the Nationals Youth Academy.
Wearing special hats to commemorate Pride month, the Grays started off hot, scoring all five runs in the bottom of the first inning - three coming before the first out. With hits from Delaware States’ Evan Bouldin, Wofford’s Aaron Thomas, Nebraska Omaha’s Henry Zipay and a RBI sac fly from Lafayette’s Justin Grech, the Gray’s were able to get control of the game early. Kaftan made the lead stand up. The right hander pitched a phenomenal game, completing all nine innings and only allowing two hits. He struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter. Kaftan was picking apart the Giants by not only striking them out, but by getting quick outs, only allowing one batter to see six or more pitches. The Giants’ only saw brief success against Kaftan with scattered singles in the third eighth. They had the only two hits for their team this evening compared to the Grays eight. Catholic’s Jessie Lacefield, who played for the Grays last season, took the loss for Gaithersburg, while Julian Elizondo (Washington and Jefferson) closed out the game for the Giants pitching the last five innings. The Grays’ win raised their record to 4-6. DC looks to inch closer to .500 on Saturday as they take on the Metro South County Braves at Washington Nationals Youth Academy, at 7:00 pm. By: William Franciscus
A big fifth inning was the difference for the DC Grays on Thursday night. DC scored five runs in the fifth, spurring the team to a 9-7 win against the Olney Cropdusters at First Responder Field. The road win moves the Grays’ record to 3-6 in the Cal Ripken League. DC trailed 1-0 after the third, and then struck back in the top of the fourth. The Grays took the lead after two wild pitches by Olney that scored Parker Goff (BYU) and Evan Bouldin (Delaware State) making it 2-1. The Grays soon found themselves in a jam in the fourth as the bases were loaded with no outs. DC starter Adam Fischer (William & Mary) was replaced by reliever Ryan Wheeler (Alvernia). Wheeler allowed two unearned runs and got the Grays through the inning, but the Cropdusters had a 4-2 lead. When talking about coming in with bases loaded Wheeler said, “I just tried to get the strikes rolling and they will get themselves out.” Trailing 4-2 the Grays turned the tide in the fifth. DC got the ball rolling when Henry Zipay (Nebraska-Omaha) grounded to the pitcher but reached on a throwing error, Mike Mallas (Lafayette) scored, and then Zipay was able to score on a wild pitch tying the game at four. Then Justin Grech (Lafayette) stole home and Goff doubled adding two more runs for the Grays. DC was able to add one more run in the inning as Goff scored on a wild pitch. It was 7-4 after the top of the fifth. The Grays tacked on another run in the sixth on a Zipay sacrifice fly. The Grays received a huge outing from Wheeler as he was the winning pitcher for the Grays. He pitched four innings and allowed no runs on two hits. Wheeler went back out in the fifth with the lead and said, “Pitching with a lead is always better, especially when you have great guys out in the field to make plays.” DC added one more run in the ninth on a sac fly by Stevie Thomas (Catholic) that scored Bouldin. The Cropdusters put a little scare in the Grays as they scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Sam Stratton (Wofford) came in for the final out and got the save as the Grays won 9-7. The Grays had strong performances all around tonight as Larson, Goff, Bouldin, and Joe Marini (Catholic) all had two hits tonight for DC, and Aaron Thomas (Wofford) added a double in the offensive surge for the Grays. The Grays hope to start a winning streak now that they have four consecutive home games. Wheeler said, “We got a momentum shift and hopefully we can win tomorrow and then take a couple of wins this weekend.” The Grays will start their homestand tomorrow at the Nationals Youth Academy against the Gaithersburg Giants at 7 o'clock. The team will be wearing special Pride hats for the weekend. The hats will also be on sale at the Grays merchandise tent. By Jeffrey Nelson
Leaving runners on base has been an early theme this season for the DC Grays, and it was the main culprit in DC’s road loss Wednesday night to the Southern Maryland Senators. The Grays dropped a 4-3 decision at Regency Furniture Field in Waldorf. As often happens, things started off well for the Grays. Kaleb Willis (Lafayette) scored the first run of the ballgame in the first inning. With Evan Bouldin (Delaware State) at the plate, Connor Larson (Wofford) stole second and simultaneously on the throw to second, Willis broke for the plate. A low throw and an accredited error to Senators shortstop, Patrick Ward, gave the Grays the early lead. Wednesday’s starter, Kimani Davis (Xavier/LA) was well improved on the mound compared to his start at home five days ago. Falling one out short of completing five innings, Davis controlled the zone more effectively as well as his off-speed pitches. After Myles Sargeant (Maine) drilled his first homerun for the Grays with one out in the second, the Grays lead stood at 2-0. Davis’ first spell of trouble came in the bottom half. A lead-off walk was followed by a fielder’s choice - and then Matt Ilgenfritz (Gardner-Webb) crushed a two-run homer over the high wall in left field. Not yet through the inning, Davis stranded two runners with the help of Larson and the glove of first baseman, Joe Marini (Catholic). The Senators would take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Cadyn Karl (Kansas State) doubled to left, was moved over by a sacrifice fly, and scored on a Patrick Ward (Florida Atlantic) single to center. Davis was struggling to miss bats and the Senators took advantage. DC second basemen, Braeden Mondeau (BYU), was spiked in the left wrist on a stolen base attempt by Ward and had to leave the game – a blow to the Grays. Mikey Guy (Frostburg State), doubled to left field, just barely missing the Senators’ second two-run homerun of the day. This prompted a call to the bullpen – and Kyle Tyler got Brett Vondohlen (Middle Tenn State) to bounce out to third. In the eighth, the Grays had their best shot to tie the game. Parker Goff (BYU) singled, followed by an Bouldin walk. Aaron Thomas (Wofford) who came in to replace the injured Mondeau, layed down a sacrifice bunt - moving Goff and Bouldin into scoring position. A wild pitch allowed Goff to score, but once again the Grays stranded the tying run at third. Lucky Perrotto (Catholic) escaped a tricky situation in the bottom half. Larson cut down a runner at the plate on a ground ball and ground out to second ended the inning. In the ninth, the Grays went down one-two-three. The Grays dropped to 2-6 with the loss, and travel to Olney on Thursday for a 5pm tilt with the Cropdusters. By Dominic Varela
Good pitching was the order of the day Monday at the Nationals Youth Academy, as the DC Grays and Metro South County Braves split a rainy-day doubleheader. DC defeated South County 5-1 in Game 1 before falling 2-1 in Game 2. Mitchell righty Eddie Kaftan got the start for the Grays in the 4 p.m. opener. Just like his eight-inning performance on June 6, Kaftan was dominant, tossing six strong innings with four strikeouts while yielding only one earned run. D.C. held onto a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth when BYU’s Braeden Mondeau sent a two-run shot over the center field wall. Later in the inning, an RBI double off the bat of Wofford’s Connor Larson knocked Metro South County pitcher DJ Muirhead (Marymount) out of the game. The teams were then hit with a slight rain delay, but the action resumed about 10 minutes later. Following the delay, Kaftan flashed his only sign of weakness, allowing an RBI single in the top of the sixth. “I definitely didn’t feel quite as lively,” Kaftan said. “I think Coach could tell and figured it was a good time to sit me down.” Wofford southpaw Sam Stratton finished off the match for the Grays, striking out six Braves over the final three frames. Powered by strong pitching and Larson’s four hits, D.C. took Game 1 of the twin bill. The Grays handed North Carolina A&T righty Diego Barrett the ball for Game 2. Like earlier in the day, D.C. struck early, as Delaware State’s Evan Bouldin scored on a bases-loaded walk to Maine's Myles Sargeant in the bottom of the first. From there, the Gray offense stalled, failing to register a run for the rest of the ballgame. The Braves tied the game in the fifth before taking the lead on a bases-loaded balk by Barrett in the seventh. By Duncan Weigand
The DC Grays got steamrolled by a relentless offensive attack by the visiting Bethesda Big Train, losing 15-2 in seven innings on Sunday afternoon at the Nationals Youth Academy. The Big Train played a “bullpen game” to perfection as four pitchers took the hill. Brandon Clarke (Liberty University) was the pitcher of record for Bethesda despite only pitching two innings. In those two innings Clarke allowed three walks but struck out three as well. The Big Train started the onslaught early in the first inning giving Grays starter Kai Cummings (Cabrini University) no chance to settle in. Bethesda put three on the board in the opening frame thanks to a home run by Jeffery Heard (Sacramento State) that set the tone for the game. Bethesda also put up a five spot in the third, giving them an 8-0 advantage. The big bats of Bethesda managed to plate another five runs in the sixth, all but ending the game right then and there. Two more runs in the seventh were the cherry on top of the Train’s Sunday victory. There were few highlights for DC, but Parker Goff (BYU) and Connor Larson (Wofford) both collected two hits and an RBI on the afternoon. The Grays (1-4) look to snap the three game skid, with a double header against the South County Braves on Monday. Game one will begin at 4 p.m. at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy. |
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