The final game of the 2025 season for the Southern Maryland Senators was a crucial one. A must-win game to clinch the four-seed for the playoffs resulted in a 6-3 win over the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts.
Right before the game, starting pitcher Jace Cunnane (Towson) sustained an injury just ten minutes before he was scheduled to throw the first pitch. That meant that relief pitcher Dawson Wetherald (Mt. Aloysius), who had arrived at the stadium expecting to throw in later innings, started the game. Wetherald got through the first four innings, keeping the Thunderbolts to only two runs and two hits.
The Senators got on the board early in the second inning when Dawson Smail (Brookdale CC) hit a single that brought home Carter Groen (La Salle).
Wetherald exited the game with his team only down by one run in the top of the fourth, but that would stand for long. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Southern Maryland tied the game at two.
Jax Nichols (Motlow State CC) started the inning off with a walk, and he worked his way around the bases, scoring when Nick Flores (VCU) hit an RBI single.
When the top of the fifth came, some were unsure who head coach Scott Middleton would throw next, and it was quite the shocker when Cale Vinson (Middle Tennessee) walked to the mound for his first-ever collegiate pitching appearance.
Vinson went five innings, allowing only one run on three hits and walking one.
After tying the game in the fourth, the Senators scored two in the fifth. With two errors on one play, the Senators scored two when Groen began wreaking havoc on the bases by stealing, which resulted in him and Steven Kraus (Binghamton) scoring.
In the sixth, Southern Maryland scored one run on a Flores single, and in the seventh, they scored on another single, this time by catcher Jack Gagen (Tusculum).
In the ninth inning, Vinson closed out the game for the Senators, resulting in the 6-3 win.
With the playoffs approaching, the Senators will play an exhibition game against the Alexandria Aces on July 22nd.
