Community Corner

Batter Up: Big Train Baseball Roster Announced

Check out who's lined up to play on Bethesda's collegiate baseball team this season.

Baseball season has officially arrived with Monday's opening day for the Washington Nationals. Though the collegiate season is still a few weeks off, local baseball fans are gearing up for the season by checking out the recently-released Big Train roster.

The summer collegiate baseball team plays in the Cal Ripken League, with teams from Rockville, Silver Spring-Takoma Park, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Virginia. Players hail from colleges across the country and stay with host families during the summer in the Bethesda and Potomac areas.

Rockville Express had not yet posted its 2013 roster at its website, RockvilleExpress.org. The Big Train plays Rockville Express on June 20 at Shirley Povich Field.

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The Big Train has taken the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League Championship in three of the last four seasons and has donated more than $600,000 to improving baseball fields in Washington, DC, and Montgomery County since 1998.

"Heading into the summer, I think we look good," said Big Train Manager Sal Colangelo. "We've got a lot of great guys coming to play for us this summer to make sure that we have a team worthy of the Big Train name heading into our 15th season."

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From the Big Train announcement, here's a few details about this year's players:  

  • This season's roster is full of youth and includes just three 2014 seniors. There are 16 juniors, 14 sophomores, and one freshman.
  • Florida Atlantic, High Point, and San Francisco all have three players on the 2013 Big Train but San Diego State has the largest contingent with four members.
  • The largest player is Davidson's Danny Mooney who stands 6-feet, 5-inches and weighs 220 pounds. The slightest player is Virginia Tech's Kit Scheetz who stands 5-9 and weighs 160.
  • The vast majority of the roster hails from three states: California (9 players), Florida (9), and Virginia (7).

Check out the full roster online.

A celebrity softball game fundraiser is planned ahead of the launch of the team’s summer season. Pre-season scrimmages start on Saturday, June 1, and opening night is Friday, June 7.

The Big Train also recently announced that a new caterer will take over operations at Shirley Povich Field.


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