BOLTS SHOW SOME FLASH IN 9-8 EXHIBITION LOSS TO DC GRAYS

By Sam Bergstrom 
SS-Tbolts

SILVER SPRING, JUNE 1—Yesterday evening, the Silver-Spring Takoma Thunderbolts opened the flood gates to their 2026 campaign in a pre-season duel with the DC Grays. In this Sunday evening showdown at Blair Baseball Stadium, both teams had more than twenty players receive game-day reps. Through nine action-packed innings, Head Coach Brock Hunter sent eight pitchers to the mound and fourteen hitters to the plate for the TBolts. 

Here are some key plays from the Thunderbolts’ 9-8 exhibition loss. 

Southpaw Jacob Seek (Jr., Chesapeake College) got the start for the TBolts, and pitched a scoreless first inning with a pair of strikeouts. The TBolts took an early 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning with back-to-back bases loaded walks by Trent Lopez (So., Cornell) and Kai Schmelzer (Fr., Gulf Coast State).

The Grays promptly responded with a 3-run third inning to go up 3-2. This inning concluded with a voracious play by David Vozzo (Jr., Moravian). After a ground ball was chopped off the glove of first baseman Nolan Kutney (Gr., UMBC), Vozzo reeled it in off the deflection, and retired the runner just in time for the much-needed final out. 

Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Sam Camacho Jr. (So., Clarion) was driven home courtesy of a Trent Lopez triple to right center. A wild pitch by the Grays would then send Lopez home to square things up at 5-5. 

Ryan Buecker (Sr., McDaniel) brought the heat for the TBolts in the 7th, and pieced together a scoreless inning. Buecker got support from catcher Kai Schmelzer, who hit Vozzo at third with a kean assist to gun down the Grays on a stolen base attempt. 

The Grays got going in the eighth with another two-run inning, but not before the TBolts made two magnificent infield plays. With the bases loaded and no outs, Matthew Kim (Sr., Hampden-Sydney) fielded a hopper up the middle, sped over to second, and fired to first for a delicious double play. The inning came to an end when Vozzo—yes, Vozzo again—delivered a diving catch at third to disrupt DC's run. 

In the bottom of the eighth, the TBolts cut the lead down to 9-8 courtesy of RBI singles from Jona Acosta (So., North Florida) and Gabriel Pegues (So., Lynchburg). After taking at-bats in the second and fifth innings as a first baseman, Wade Hartrick (So., University of Chicago) pitched a scoreless ninth inning on the mound, and struck out two Grays while doing so. 

To conclude, DC notched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, and handed the TBolts a 9-8 loss. 

Sam Camacho Jr. led the way for the TBolts offense, going 2-2 with a walk and a run scored. Kutney, Acosta, Lopez, Schmelzer, and Pegues all joined Camacho by hammering a hit apiece. Along with their seven base knocks, the TBolts worked nine walks, struck out seven Grays, and made multiple highlight plays in the infield. 

The TBolts will begin their regular season at Bethesda, where they will take on the Bethesda Big Train at Shirley Povich Field. First pitch is set for 7 pm, and will be streamed on the Thunderbolts YouTube channel. 

MEET THE MEDIA TEAM THAT WILL COVER THUNDERBOLTS BASEBALL ON THE WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2026

SILVER SPRING, MAY 31—With the season less than three days away, say hello to the members of the Thunderbolts media team that will bring you TBolts baseball on the web and on social media.

Some voices will be familiar but we have new three staffers who will broadcast each Thunderbolt game on the ThunderboltsBaseball YouTube Channel and post here with reports on the team’s efforts on the field. You met one already, Sam Bergstrom, whose article below on the TBolts in 2026, hit the site earlier today.

Click on over to the Media tab, then select Meet the Media team to see who they are and find out a bit about them. You will be reading and hearing from them a lot this summer when you follow TBolts baseball.

See ya at Blair but if you can’t be there, Thunderbolts media is the next best thing.

Play Ball.

THUNDERBOLTS PRIMED TO MAKE ‘26 SEASON DEBUT

By Sam Bergstrom
SS-Tbolts

SILVER SPRING, MAY 31—College is officially out of session, which means summertime baseball is back in the DMV. The Silver-Spring Takoma Thunderbolts are back for their 26th season, and are looking to bring the buzz for fans at Blair Baseball Stadium this summer. 

Head Coach Brock Hunter is entering his sixth season as TBolts skipper. His number one goal this summer—and every summer—is “to get the guys better and to make sure we have fun doing it.” Hunter especially looks to assist players who want to improve specific facets of their game, so they are best prepared for their upcoming collegiate campaigns. 

Despite the team having 30 new players, Hunter believes team chemistry is melding well after just three days of practice. “It’s just cool seeing guys from all different landscapes come together and be friends,” Hunter said. “You can already tell, guys are getting to know each other a lot.”

Along with the numerous newcomers, there are also eight players returning from last season’s roster. This includes Josh Erd (Sr., East Stroudsburg), who is back for his third summer with the TBolts. When asked what makes the Thunderbolts such a special summerball program, Erd said, “The culture and coaches here, all the boys, it’s a family here, man. It's really awesome. It's a good vibe over here all the time.” 

Other returning players include David Vozzo (Jr., Moravian), Griffin Puvel (Sr., Rider), and Brady Grimes (Jr., Millersville). While Grimes had a memorable 2025 season as a two-way player, he has since converted into a full-time pitcher. Grimes will start on the bump against Big Train on Tuesday for their regular season opener at Bethesda. 

Silver Spring-Takoma is sporting 21 pitchers and 17 position players on this year’s roster. The team also features one two-way player, Wade Hartrick (So., University of Chicago). The Boulder, Colorado native is hoping to contribute a healthy amount of hitting, catching, and pitching this season. 

This year’s team is also balanced with a wide array of college competition. Eight players hail from D1 schools, nine play at the D2 level, eleven play D3, and eight come from community college.

Hunter believes this variety can benefit everyone on the team. “I think, especially for the D2 and D3 guys, when they can have success against some of the D1 arms, like, you can hit anybody at the D2, D3 level,” he expressed. 

Above all, General Manager Dick O’Connor believes that the Thunderbolts can strengthen the Silver Spring-Takoma community in a heartfelt way.

“It's a two-way street. We try to encourage the fans to be interactive with the players, and we also encourage the players to be interactive with the fans.” O’Connor shared. “I always say, you never know. That kid who signed your bat, one day might be sitting in Cooperstown.” 

The Thunderbolts will hold a pre-season game this evening at 6 P.M. against the DC Grays at home. Their regular season debut will be against Bethesda Big Train on Tuesday, where they will duke it out against the defending regular season and league champs at Shirley Povich Field. The official home opener is set for Wednesday, June 3, against the Gaithersburg Giants; first pitch will be at 7 p.m. 

The TBolts will play 40 games—twenty at home, and twenty away— into late July. The full schedule can be found on the Thunderbolts website.

The Thunderbolts will broadcast all 40 games—home and away—on YouTube this season. Meet our Media Team on the Media tab. A link to the broadcasts is on Media/Live Games.

We hope to see many excited faces at Blair this season. As always, Go Bolts!

THE ROSTER GOES EVER ON…

SILVER SPRING, MAY 30—If J.R.R. Tolkien was a Thunderbolts fan and Bilbo Baggins had a season pass, they would both recognize that the roster of the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts will go ever on throughout the 2026 season.

It’s a snapshot in time, a living document, and a guide to the latest list of players who will grace Blair Baseball Stadium, as Bilbo sang it, “…through the merry flowers of June.”

So, go ahead and act as The Lord of the Links and click on About and Roster. Some of the information is missing and will be supplied in subsequent versions. But for now, this is what we’ve got.

Summer league baseball is coming and we can, “…look at last at meadows green.”

NEW 2026 THUNDERBOLTS PROGRAM NOW ON WEBSITE; GO TO ABOUT/PRINTED PROGRAM

The new printed program for the Thunderbolts 2026 season is now up on the Thunderbolts website. It has the latest information for the 2026 season, the schedule, streaming info, and biographies of the players.

Just go to the Top Menu, Select About, and choose Printed Program.

Enjoy!

SECIAL NIGHTS COMING UP FOR TBOLTS AT BLAIR

SILVER SPRING, MAY 29—There are two special nights coming up for Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts at Blair Baseball Stadium in June. First is a special night for the Scouts at Blair on Sunday, June 7, at 6 pm vs the Bethesda Big Train.

Second is a special night for Silver Spring-Takoma Park Youth Baseball and Softball Leagues. That game is also a Sunday game against the Olney Cropdusters at Blair.

As always, we’ll see ya at Blair.

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