Silver Spring - Takoma Thunderbolts 8 at Bethesda Big Train 4 (Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League) - June 30, 2024

The annual Stadium Journey meetup was held in the D.C. area over three days and the final game was a Sunday morning affair in Bethesda (well, Rockville to be accurate), just an hour from Hagerstown where I needed to see my final Atlantic League ballpark that night. I drove over to Shirley Povich Field for an early start as we were special guests of the founder of the Bethesda Big Train, Bruce Adams. While we enjoyed a breakfast sandwich, Adams spoke to us, outlining how he brought this team to life. It is a great story that can be found in their amazing souvenir program, of which a digital copy is available.

As this was a meetup, I did not spend as much time touring, though the ballpark is quite small anyway. Named after the famous sportswriter and father of Maury, Shirley Povich Field opened in 1999 and has a capacity of 800. There is a plaque honouring the senior Povich, who died the year before the ballpark opened.

There is much more history on display, including several members of the Cal Ripken League Hall of Fame. I should note that the league is named after Ripken Sr., and not his slightly more famous son.

One of the inductees is Brett Cecil, who played for the doubly alliteratively named Silver Spring - Takoma Thunderbolts (the visitors on this day) and threw a no-hitter in 2005 before being drafted by the Blue Jays in 2007.

This year, a new statue of Povich and Walter 'Big Train' Johnson, who spent his entire career with the Washington Senators. Obviously, the team is named after Johnson, who is buried in Rockville.

Another plaque tells Johnson's story and his connection to the team.

One interesting touch is a distance pole that lists all of the former Big Train players who have made the majors, along with the distance to the team for which they first played.

There are a few box seats behind the plate and down the lines, with all protected by netting. In the background of the picture below, you can see the roof of the family pavilion, which was where we able to spend time to get out of the scorching heat, and where we enjoyed our breakfast and lunch, kindly provided by the team.

Farther down the lines, you can look back toward home plate, though you cannot walk behind the outfield fence here.

Several numbers have been retired and are on the right field fence, from left to right: Hank Greenberg, Cal Ripken Sr., Hunter Renfroe (who led the Big Train to the national title in 2011), Roberto Clemente, Hugh Adams (who played here for six years) and Jackie Robinson.

There is a small poster explain each honoree's contribution.

The Big Train have won 10 league championships (make that 11 as they won this year too) and are a franchise to be admired in this circuit. They are such a well-run operation that anyone considering starting a new team should look here for advice and suggestions.

There are two mascots named Homer and Bunt and I managed to get the former in a picture. 

Overall, Shirley Povich Field is a great little ballpark that most travelers will probably miss as they pass through the region. Of course, collegiate ball seasons are very short, so opportunities are limited, but you should definitely pay a visit if you have the chance.

The Game

The doubly alliteratively named Silver Spring - Takoma Thunderbolts were visiting while occupying last place in the north division, while Bethesda was only 12-11. The game was slated to start at 10:30, but a heavy rain overnight had made the field unplayable, so it took an extra hour to get it ready. 

That's the grounds crew working diligently to put dirt over the home plate area at around 9:45.

The Big Train started Jake Titus (below), who plays for Kentucky, though he only appeared in 3 games for them as they went to the College World Series. Meanwhile, SSTT sent Rohan Mishra to the hill. Bethesda notched singletons in the first two innings, and both teams scored one in the third, with the Big Train's coming on an Andrew Williamson homer.

Titus was removed in the fourth after hitting a batter and giving up a walk and reliever Aaron Ceniceros was not good, yielding three singles and two walks in his third of an inning. The visitors added three more in the fifth on just one hit, and Bethesda could not come back, falling 8-4 in a mild upset.

It was too hot to sit in the seats for long, but I managed to watch most of the happenings. With the loss, Bethesda fell to 12-12, but they went 9-3 over the rest of the season and 5-0 in the playoffs to take the title. 

Notes

Williamson, who plays college ball for Central Florida, led the league with a .462 average while slugging .906 (both league records), and he was the finals MVP. Of course, the competition as this level is not as high as in D-1, but he certainly deserves to be looked at when for future drafts.

Best,

Sean