Nats, O's Clinch Playoff Spots—Could a Beltway Series Be Brewing?

There's plenty of baseball yet to be played, but for the first time ever, a Nationals-Orioles World Series is a real possibility.

It's been 15 years since the Baltimore-Washington area fielded a Major League Baseball team with a winning record, let alone sent one to the postseason.  But as of the final out in last night's Rangers-Angels game, the Orioles—improbably, unfathomably—became the second playoff-bound ballclub in the corridor, clinching at least a wild card spot for the first time this century. Their 6-3 win over Boston earlier in the day also kept the O's tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East. The Nationals' shining moment came 10 days earlier as Washington closed the deal on a postseason berth with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year marks just the second time the organization has made the playoffs and its…

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Former All-County Pitcher Fails Drug Test, Suspended 50 Games

Charlie Cononie, former Northwest High School pitcher and current minor league player in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, tests positive for methamphetamine and an amphetamine.

In a 9-day span when established Major League Baseball players Melky Cabrera, of the San Francisco Giants, and Bartolo Colon, of the Oakland Athletics, were suspended for use of Performance Enhancing Drugs, a former All-Montgomery County pitcher was also suspended for violating minor league baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Charlie Cononie, a former Northwest High School pitcher, was one of three minor league players in the Tampa Bay Rays organization suspended 50 games after testing positive or methamphetamine and an amphetamine, according to a statement by MLB. A Germantown native, the 23-year-old Cononie was an All-Montgomery County pitcher his senior season at Northwest before pitching at Towson University, according to…

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Big Train Opens Exhibition Season Saturday

Rockville Express opener is Wednesday at Montgomery College.

The Bethesda Big Train baseball club opens a three-game exhibition season with a game against the Maryland Patriots at 7:30 tonight at Shirley Povich Field at Cabin John Regional Park. The Big Train plays in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, a wood-bat summer league showcasing collegiate talent from around the country. The club won its third straight league titled and finished ranked No. 1 in the nation by Perfect Game. Ninety-nine Big Train players have gone on to play professionally. The Big Train open the regular season on Wednesday against the Baltimore Redbirds in Towson. The home opener is at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the Rockville Express.  Rockville Express, which also plays in the CRCBL, opens its season at 7 p.m. on …

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POLL: Are Kids Getting Priced Out of Baseball and Softball?

A New York Times article explores the era of the $250 baseball bat.

  Have you bought a baseball glove for your Little Leaguer lately? Did you pay more than $100 for it? How about a $250 bat? A New York Times story headlined "Big Price Tags Attached to Even the Littlest Leagues," looks at the big business of equipping youngsters for participation in youth baseball and softball leagues, quoting those costs and more. "A batting helmet protects tiny heads for $39.99," the Times reports. "A pair of Nike Jordan Black Cat cleats will make your child fast and fashionable at $51.99 until he or she outgrows them." So what do you think? Has the cost of bats and gloves taken our kids too far from the simpler days of sandlot and playground ballgames? Or have you had better luck finding more modestly-priced equipment …

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Rockville Resident is Part of Pennant Race

Herndon (Va.) High alumnus Brandon Guyer finds himself in the chase with Tampa Bay.

Career Path Leads to Base Paths for Wootton Alumnus

Marty Cornish's Round Trip Baseball shows county players the way.

It started as a summer job nearly six years ago, but in just a short time, Marty Cornish has gone from full-time paint salesman to full-time baseball instructor.  Cornish recently quit his job managing the Georgetown Sherwin Williams store to focus on his upstart baseball training company, Round Trip Baseball. The Thomas S. Wootton High School alumnus and former Montgomery College-Germantown star started working with a small group of players while he was still at Montgomery College. Through word of mouth, Cornish’s workouts got more and more popular, leading to the start of the company in 2009, he said. “The big thing is getting the name out there and getting the brand out there and earning people’s trust,” Cornish said. “I try to do the …

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Riggleman Remembers a Rockville Like a Rockwell

Washington Nationals manager is a graduate of Richard Montgomery High.

Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman invoked the name of an iconic American painter when discussing his days as a boy in Rockville. "Growing up in Rockville in the 1960s, it was like a Norman Rockwell painting," Riggleman said in an exclusive interview with Rockville Patch before Saturday's game against the Florida Marlins. "I am sure a lot of people feel the same way about the town they grew up in," said Riggleman, who graduated from Richard Montgomery High. "It was a great community for children and there was interest in a lot of activities." In a recent interview with ESPN 980, Riggleman noted that former NFL star Mike Curtis, who played linebacker for the Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins from 1965 to 1978…

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Retired Coach Returns to the Diamond

Former baseball and basketball coach at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High is now the hitting coach at Montgomery College-Rockville.

Bill Wright, the silver-haired former baseball and basketball coach at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, has come out of retirement to help his long-time friend and former upcounty rival Rick Price revive the beleaguered baseball program at Montgomery College-Rockville this spring. “Rick called and asked me if I’d like to do it,” Wright said. “He and I go way back…we were teammates at Wheaton High School [in the early 1960’s] and played together at MC-Rockville in 1964 and ’65,” he said. Price, who has been head coach of Gaithersburg American Legion Post 295 for many years, is the interim head coach, while Wright is serving as hitting coach. The MC-Rockville team opens its season Thursday, against Baltimore City Community College with a …

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