By Matt Cohen 

The field at Montgomery Blair High School, the home of the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts, is familiar ground for Brady Pearre (High Point). 

It’s a field he’s grown up watching baseball on and playing baseball on. 

But Blair has never been his home field, until this summer. 

On the field he knows so well, Pearre was the hero driving in three runs including the game winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning as the T-Bolts came back to beat the D.C. Grays 7-6. 

Pearre’s team trailed 6-4 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, but as he stepped up to the plate with two outs the tying run was 90 feet away and the winning run standing on second. 

“I was just trying to come through,” Pearre said of his mindset stepping to the plate. “That’s what it’s all about. First pitch I missed a fastball that I thought I should have hit. Then I told myself that if I was getting it again, I wasn’t going to miss it.” 

Pearre did get a fastball again, and he didn’t miss it. The left fielder hit a line drive up the middle allowing both runners to score, turning a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead with one swing of his bat. 

“I saw how deep the centerfielder was after I hit it and I was like, ‘Oh they’re definitely scoring,’” Pearre said. 

Pearre drove in the winning run for the T-Bolts, and he also drove in the first run. Pearre hit a triple to center field driving in a run and tying the game at one in the third inning. 

Though after Pearre tied the game, the Grays offense began to build a lead, growing all the way to 6-2 by the sixth inning. The T-Bolts slowly chipped away until Pearre’s game winning hit, his third hit of the game.

Blair has been a familiar field for Pearre throughout his life. Pearre’s four year career at Poolesville High School was one of the most productive careers high school baseball in Montgomery County and Maryland has seen. As a junior, Pearre was the key piece of Poolesville’s state title winning team, and was an All-State selection as a senior, named to the Brooks Robinson All-Star game at Camden Yards. 

Before the start of the 2019 summer, T-Bolts head coach Doug Remer said he wanted to add Pearre to the roster for one reason. Pearre’s older brother Hunter said Brady was better than him. 

Hunter Pearre played with the T-Bolts last summer where he hit .330. 

While Hunter Pearre recommended his brother to Remer, Brady Pearre grew up wanting to play in the Cal Ripken League growing up and because of watching his brother. Watching his brother with the T-Bolts is why Pearre wanted to make Blair his home field, swap the third base dugout he occupied during high school and move over to the home first base side. 

Pearre had a strong freshman season with High Point hitting .303 with five home runs and 21 RBIs. His coaches were on him early about finding a summer home. 

Silver Spring was a perfect fit. 

“It’s close to home and I love being home,” Pearre said. “My older brother did a lot. He always played so it’s kind of what’s expected.” 

Pearre found success quickly this spring at High Point, and he’s found success quickly with the T-Bolts. Pearre is hitting .344 with four RBIs, six stolen bases, two doubles and a triple. He’s also pitched to a 2.25 ERA over 4.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four. 

His quick adjustment earns him a trip to another field he’s played on growing up in Montgomery County, Shirley Povich Field, after being selected to the Cal Ripken League All Star Game on July 10. 

Pearre is playing in Silver Spring in large part because of his brother, but by making an All Star game appearance he’ll be doing something Hunter Pearre never did. Maybe that’s what Hunter Pearre and Doug Remer talked about when bringing Brady Pearre to Blair.