Cal Ripken League Playoffs: Redbirds top Bethesda Big Train, 3-2
Photo is courtesy of the Ripken League and is of pitcher Sean Keselica of the Redbirds.
The Baltimore Redbirds beat their archrivals to quickly gain the upper-hand in the Ripken League playoffs on Wednesday night.
Playing against the Big Train in Bethesda, the Redbirds backed up strong pitching from starter Sean Keselica (Virginia Tech) with three runs, for a 3-2 victory. Pat Fitzgerald (Towson) got the ‘birds on the board in the seventh with a double down the leftfield line to tie the game at 1-1.
Baltimore tacked on two more in the inning for a 3-1 lead that withstood a Ryne Willard (Tallahassee CC) leadoff home run in the ninth for Bethesda.
The Redbirds and Big Train have faced each other for the league championship for four straight years. Baltimore prevailed in last season’s championship after coming up short the three prior seasons.
After two play-in games, the final four teams (Alexandria, Baltimore, Bethesda, Rockville), play for the league title in a double-elimination tournament. Baltimore faces the Alexandria Aces on the road on Friday. The Aces beat Rockville on Wednesday to advance to the winner’s bracket of the finals.
Tom Flynn has contributed to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He compiled the photo history, Baseball in Baltimore, in 2008 and has written one novel, Venable Park. Check out Tom’s journal at boxerjournal.com