Silver Spring – Takoma Thunderbolts Opening Night!

I was thrilled to be part of the Opening Night Ceremony for the Silver Spring Takoma Park Thunderbolts’s 2010 Season. I joined colleagues on the County Council, and other elected officials to throw out a ceremonial “first-pitch! I also had the opportunity to talk briefly with members of the Thunderbolts and to tour the new baseball facilities.

The Thunderbolts and Orioles played for more than 3 ½ hours last night in the 2010 season opening game and ended up tied 7-7 after 13 innings, when the game had to be suspended because the lights are turned off at 11pm at Blair Stadium. The Thunderbolts went out to an early 5-0 lead, saw the Orioles bat around in the 7th to go ahead 7-5, then scored single runs in the 8th and 9th to tie the game. The Thunderbolts had several scoring chances in extra innings but were unable to push home the winning run. The game will be finished at a date to be determined.

The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts are a charter member of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. The eight-team collegiate wooden bat league is comprised of teams throughout Maryland and Virginia who play a 40-game regular season in June and July each year. The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League has a license agreement with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation for the use of the name Cal Ripken and is not affiliated with nor sponsored by the Foundation or Ripken Baseball.

The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts are a wonderful community resource. I encourage you to support the team and to learn more about them at http://www.tbolts.org/.