The Aces drew first blood at South County through a Max Romero (Vanderbilt) moonshot in just the second at-bat of the game. But like most good things, it didn’t last.
Alexandria dropped the road game 15-5 leaving eight runners left on base. The club is amid a five-game skid and sits alone in last place 14 games behind the Big Train.
Casey Mayes (Michigan State) continued his success against the braves with a 3-4 clip at the plate with an RBI double and a triple. THe Spartan was the only Ace to record an RBI outside Romero’s homer.
The Aces will be back in action Sunday with a double-header at Silver Spring – Takoma. The T-Bolt stand alone at second in the Ripken League at eight games back.

The Alexandria Aces fell at the hands of Bethesda 15-5 in a Shirley Povich Field barnburner Tuesday night.
Alexandria moves to 13 games out of first – last in the Ripken League – while the frontrunning Big Train advance their record to 23-6.
Scotty Morgan (GMU) cracked a three-run bomb in the third inning knotting the ballgame up. Morgan is now tied with Bethesda’s Jacob Southern for most homers in the league at seven.
It was Bethesda’s two-out rally in the sixth frame, riding three hits toward six runs, to break open the scorebook and never look back.
The Aces only scored a single run in the final six innings while Riley Cheek (UNC Charlotte) notably batted in both second and six inning runs.
Alexandria is off Wednesday for the All-Star break where seven donning Pinstripes will take to the field representing Alexandria.
The Club is back in action Thursday and Friday for a two-game homestand hosting of the T-Bolt and Big Train.

Continuing his hot-streak at South County High School, Casey Mayes (MSU) was 2-3 from the plates with a double and walk scoring one run. Unfortunately, the Spartan would be the only Aces after nine frames to card hit in the 3-2 loss at the hands of the FCA Braves.
The Aces drop into the Ripken League cellar after the loss at 11.5 games behind Bethesda. The Aces have now lost seven of their last ten.
The Aces had a golden opportunity to make noise in the eighth – trailing one run – with two runners on base and no one down. Dom Toso (Bucknell) failed to execute a sacrifice bunt before Ryan Peltier (Ball State) flew out in shallow right field. Ending his on-base streak at 15 games, Max Romero (Vanderbilt) struck out to close the frame out in a pinch-hit situation.
The same opportunity came afoot in the ninth frame. This time it was Javon Fields (Towson) who executed the sacrifice bunt perfectly moving the tying and go-ahead runners into scoring position. TJ McKenzie (Vanderbilt) struck out before Steve Hill (Morehead State) greased a missile down the third base line into Charlie Ludwick’s glove at the hot corner.
Jared Lyons (GMU) was handed a tough loss after pitching five innings. Allowing only seven hits behind seven punchouts, all three of FCA’s runs came in the second frame of which two were earned.
Lyons is now tied with Bethesda’s Dalton Ponce for most strikeouts at 43. Lyons has notably pitched 3.2 less innings than the Big Train hurler.
Alexandria is back in action Monday in a 6:30 p.m. hosting of the T-Bolts at Frank Mann Field.

The league frontrunning Bethesda Big Train rolled out of Frank Mann field with a 10-0 victory Wednesday night over the Aces.
The Aces fall to 9-15 on the summer season and remind 9.5 games out of first. The fifth-place Aces are just a half a game up on the FCA Braves who reside in the league cellar.
Seth Marano (Lansing CC) tossed 3 innings in his start finding trouble in the second after Bethesda hit through their order with three walks and a pair of hits en rout to five runs.
Alexandria went four deep in the bullpen with Andre Orselli (Ball State), Brandon McGaw (Georgetown), Hugh O’Hara (GMU), and Brett Clements (Pitt CC) making an appearance. The quartet allowed two runs in the final six frames behind five strikeouts and just two walks.
The Aces carded just six hits – Max Romero (Vanderbilt) earning a pair of singles – and three defensive errors. The club left eight runners stranded on the evening.
Scotty Morgan (GMU) notably reached on a broken-bat infield single extending his hit streak to 15 games. Romero also extended his on-base streak to 14 games.
The Aces get Independence Day off before regaining familiar footing at Frank Mann field Friday in a date with the fourth-place Giants.
Gaithersburg is just two games head of the Alexandria in the standings. The Pinstripes whipped Gaithersburg 17-8 in their previous meeting.

Aces win shootout in Gaithersburg

A nine run third inning sprung the Aces to a 17-8 victory in Gaithersburg on Monday night.

After an uncharacteristic start from Jared Lyons (George Mason) in which he gave up four runs and walked four in three innings, the offense battled back to get the win.

The Aces used two big innings to help get the victory. The first came in the top of the third. In that frame, the Aces sent 12 batters to the plate and scored nine runs on eight hits. Each of the nine hitters in the lineup reached base in the inning and all but one scored at least once.

T.J. McKenzie (Vanderbilt) singled to start the inning and later knocked in three runs with a triple. McKenzie scored both times he reached in the third.

Max Romero (Vanderbilt) and Scotty Morgan (George Mason) each extended their respective streaks in the third inning. Romero homered to extend his on base streak to 13 games, while Morgan singled and scored to extend his hitting streak to 14.

The second of the big innings came in the eighth. It was the second time the Aces batted around in the game, this time sending 11 hitters to the plate. They scored six times, but didn’t even register a hit. Six walks, two hit batters and an error helped the Aces plate six in the inning.

Adam Schwartz (UConn) was the Aces’ best pitcher in the ball game. He threw four innings in relief of Lyons, giving up one run on five hits and striking out three.

Schwartz started the game in left field and when the Aces brought him into pitch, didn’t realize they forfeited their right for a designated hitter.

That led to a fun moment in the top of the ninth, when Phil D’Ambrosio (Lynchburg) had to take an at-bat. D’Ambrosio was able to make contact, hitting a ball up the middle and beating it out for a base hit.

That single from the righty reliever was the cherry on top in the Aces’ big win on Monday. The team is back in action Tuesday night in Bethesda against the Big Train.

First pitch will be at 7 p.m. and you can catch all the action on mixlr.com/alexandriaaces.

With two on and one out, Jake Heilman (Lansing CC) ripped a two-run double into center field cutting the Braves lead to a manageable three runs highlighting the Aces rally. But when the six-foot-five sophomore peaked into left field after nine, he was met with a scoreboard reading a final 10-4 score in the loss.
The last-place Braves move to 8-15 with the Aces falling to 8-14. Alexandria remains just a half-game out of last place trailing Bethesda by 8.5.
The Aces carded four defensive errors bringing the season total up to an alarmingly high 41 while simultaneously stranding 16 pinstriped baserunners.
Perhaps the night’s lone bright spot shined through Scotty Morgan (George Mason). After a leadoff single in the fourth – later scoring on a Ryan Peltier (Ball State) RBI single – the second-year Ace extended his hit streak to 13 games.
Morgan is the only player in the league to rank top five in batting average (.394), RBI (20), and homeruns (6). Notably, Morgan is tied atop the leaderboard with Bethesda’s Jacob Southern for dingers despite playing four less games.
Monday, the Aces travel to Gaithersburg to take on the Giants. First pitch slated for 7 p.m.

Aces split double header against T-Bolts

The Aces won a high scoring affair in game one of the double header against Silver Spring-Takoma by a score of 9-8. Alexandria dropped game two of the twin bill 6-5.

Game one was an offensive battle. The two teams combined for 15 hits and 17 runs in the seven-inning game.

The Aces were led on offense by Scotty Morgan (George Mason) who launched two home runs that knocked in five total runs.

After both games, Morgan sits at six home runs and 20 RBI to go along with a 12-game hitting streak.

Connor Campbell (Florence-Darlington Tech) started the game for the Aces, going four innings and giving up five total runs (four earned). Zach Fruit (Lansing CC) pitched the last three innings and picked up the win for the Aces, making him 2-0 on the season.

Fruit gave up four hits, three runs (two earned), walked none and struck out two in his three innings.

Game two was not as successful for the Aces. Alexandria took the lead in the second, but two runs in the third gave the Bolts the lead. The Aces came back to tie the game in the seventh inning after Javon Fields (Towson) walked and scored on a single from Morgan.

The Aces however, gave up two runs in the top of the eighth and the Bolts shut the door in the bottom of the frame to get the 6-5 win.

The Aces’ offense mashed 11 hits in the game, but could only muster five runs from it. One of those runs came on a Max Romero (Vanderbilt) home run in the second inning. It was his second of the year and his first at Frank Mann Field.

Romero entered the day with a .625 on base percentage and a 1.265 OPS. He walked twice, homered and knocked in two runs in eight times at the plate in the double header.

The Aces are back in action on Sunday at Frank Mann Field against the FCA Braves. First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. and can be heard on mixlr.com/alexandriaaces.

Freshman commit to Vanderbilt Max Romero took the Braves’ relief pitcher deep to left-center field for a two-run wax in the top of the eighth at South County High School.
Despite late excitement, it was all too little too late as the FCA Braves hung six runs up in sixth inning cadillacing their way to a 9-3 Wednesday night victory.
Alexandria falls to 6-11 on the year – knotted up with FCA in the leagues cellar – and sits a full seven games behind the frontrunning Big Train.
Jared Lyons (GMU) produced another productive start en route to just four hits through four innings. He allowed just one run – unearned by a pair of fielding errors – and stamped seven strikeouts to his stat line.
Lyons now leads the Ripken League with 32 strikeouts on the season through 18.1 innings pitched. His ERA remains among the leagues best.
The Aces are back in action Thursday on familiar footing. Their double-header with the D.C. Grays is set to start at 4 p.m. from Frank Mann Field.

Aces work split in twin bill with Gaithersburg

After an ominous forecast delayed the start of game one for an hour, the Aces and Giants battled to a split in the double header that ended just before 11 p.m.

In game one, the bats fell almost silent. Ben Jordan was perfect through five innings against the Aces, but a Ryan Peltier (Ball State) single ended that in the sixth. It was tied 1-1 after six, but Gaithersburg took the lead back in the top of the seventh.

Steve Hill (Morehead State) however, had the answer in the bottom of the last inning. Hill mashed a homerun to left center field to tie the game in the seventh. The Aces then gave up two in the eighth and dropped game one of the double header 4-2.

Andre Orselli (Ball State) didn’t get the win, but pitched well in his first start of the year. He threw 6.1 innings and gave up just two runs on six hits. He didn’t walk a single hitter and struck out four.

Game two was a much different ball game. The two teams combined for 27 hits and 22 runs in the Aces’ 14-8 victory.

Scotty Morgan (George Mason) led the way offensively in game two. Morgan was 4-5 at the plate with a double, three runs batted in and a run scored.

Javon Fields (Towson) walked three times and scored twice in game two. Max Romero (Vanderbilt) scored three runs in the ball game.

The Aces took the lead early with four runs in the first, two in the second and five in the third.

The early outburst catapulted the Aces to a 14-8 win and a split in the double header. The Aces are now 6-10 on the year and are tied with the FCA Braves in last place.

The Aces face those same Braves at South County High School in their next game on Wednesday.

Amid a gloomy D.C. evening – manifesting itself in a 25-minute rain delay in the seventh inning – the Alexandria Aces left the nation’s capital with a 6-3 victory over the Grays.
The Aces, now a 4-7 record, have won four of their last five and sit 4.5 games out of the lead.
Vanderbilt commits TJ McKenzie and Max Romero drew back-to-back walks kicking off the ballgame. McKenzie scored on two stolen bases and a passed ball to reach home. Romero was brought in from a Ryan Peltier (Ball State) RBI.
Peltier picked up his second RBI of the night two innings later after driving home Jake Heiman (Lansing CC) via single to centerfield. Steven Karis (Eastern Michigan) touched home as well on a walk and a few wild pitches.
The Grays were held silent until the fifth inning thanks to another outstanding Jared Lyons (GMU) start. He allowed just a single run on two hits in five innings of work. The crafty right-hander struck out nine walking just three.
“We were just trying to keep the pitch count low and get our pitchers out of there, especially in this rain,” catcher Max Romero said.
Lyons’ 25 strikeouts on the year now leads the Ripken League – just one punchout ahead of Bethesda’s Dalton Ponce on two less innings thrown.
Alexandria tacked on more offense allowing McKenzie to score again in the fourth on Heilman’s RBI single. Scotty Morgan (GMU) manufactured a run in the sixth after reaching on a single of his own.
Additionally, the Aces bullpen held strong in the rain. Adam Schwartz (UConn), Andre Orselli (Ball State), and Hugh O’Hara (GMU), proved D.C. scoreless on just two hits after middle reliver Nick Sadd (Bucknell) let two come home in the sixth.
Lyons was awarded his first win of the season, and O’Hara his first save after closing out the ballgame’s final at-bat on strikes.
“I told him, word for word, ‘just lean back and let it fly. I want to see 95.’ And he blew it by him, so that was fun,” Romero said.
The Aces are back in action Friday for a double-header at Silver Spring – Takoma. Both ballgames are scheduled for seven innings with first pitch set at 4:30 p.m.