By Gavin Dorsey, Marc Goldstein, David Schurter and Brandon Schwartzberg

The teams are listed in order of their seeding. The top two seeds/division winners (Aces and Big Train) will get a first round bye, while the four lower seeds face off in one-game play-ins (3-seed Cropdusters vs. 6-seed Senators; 4-seed Braves vs. 5-seed Thunderbolts) on Saturday. The two division winners will face the winners of the play-in games in a best-of-three semi-final series starting Sunday. The Aces will face the lowest remaining seed, while the Big Train will face the higher-seeded play-in winner.

Play-In Round Schedule: Saturday, July 22

6) Senators @ 3) Cropdusters | 4 p.m. | First Responder Field
5) Thunderbolts @ 4) Braves | 7 p.m. | South County High School

1) Alexandria Aces (30-6, First Place in the South Division)

The Alexandria Aces, the Cal Ripken Sr. League regular season champions in 2023 are coming off of a successful season that saw the team reach the 30 win mark, separating themselves from Bethesda, the second-best team in the league, by seven games. The Aces’ boast the league’s best offense, as well as a lights out pitching staff. Here’s what you need to know about the Aces as the postseason gets underway this Saturday.

The Aces’ potent lineup is led by Matt Ossenfort (Vanderbilt), who leads the league in home runs (8), hits (38), and is second in batting average (.376) and RBI (35). Ossenfort also has an absurd 1.173 OPS to pad his stats. He figures to be in the conversation, and possibly the frontrunner, for the League Most Outstanding Hitter Award. Ossenfort is going into his first year at Vanderbilt and right now, it seems like the sky’s the limit for him.

Cory Taylor (Eastern Michigan) has been consistent with the bat all season for the Aces. Taylor is third on the team with 106 at bats, receiving a lot of playing time across both the infield and outfield. This season, he posted a .330 average to go along with five homers, 25 RBIs, and a .964 OPS, playing well all around.

Behind the plate, Tim Nicholson (George Washington) was third on the team behind Ossenfort and RJ Hamilton (Vanderbilt) in batting average, as he hit .333 on the season in 26 games played. Like Taylor, he demonstrated versatility across the field, logging more than 50 innings in the outfield in addition to his work as the team’s primary backstop. Hamilton shined as well, leading the team with 21 stolen bases to go along with his .346 average and team-best .500 on-base percentage.

The Aces pitching staff as a team posted a strong 3.58 ERA, led by Anthony Ehly (Seton Hall). Ehly anchored the Aces starting rotation with 33 innings pitched in seven starts for the team, posting a 3.00 ERA with a 4–1 record to go along with 33 strikeouts. Ehly is joined in the rotation by Ethan Houghtaling (Western Michigan), who posted a 3.30 ERA in 30 innings pitched over six starts for Alexandria, as well as Ryan Reich (Seton Hall), who led the team with 45 strikeouts and also posted a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings over 7 starts.

Out in the bullpen, the strong pitching only gets stronger as Sam Belliveau (UMass) leads the way in the back half of games. Belliveau appeared in 12 games this season, posting a 2.41 ERA to go along with 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings of relief. Alongside Belliveau, the Aces also have Cameron Keshock (Auburn), another strikeout pitcher. Keshock can bounce between the rotation and the bullpen, providing much needed depth to both positions. Keshock posted a 3.00 ERA in 9 games this season, pitching 22 innings.

The Alexandria Aces are arguably the most balanced team in the Cal Ripken Sr. League and they are on a quest to repeat as league champions to follow up their historic regular season.

First Game: Sunday, July 23 vs. lowest remaining seed from play-in round

2) Bethesda Big Train (23-13, First Place in the North Division)

The Bethesda Big Train, the North Division winners in the Cal Ripken Sr. League in 2023, are looking for redemption this postseason after falling to the Aces in the League Championship Series a year ago. Due to a forfeit by the Cropdusters in their final game of the season, the Big Train edged out Olney for the North Division title and a first-round playoff bye. This season, manager Sal Colangelo also earned his 500th career regular season win as the Big Train manager.

All summer long, the Big Train offense has been anchored by the bat of outfielder Jeffrey Heard (Sacramento State). Heard played in every game for the Big Train in 2023, leading the team in almost every offensive category, most notably: home runs (5), RBI (36, leads league), and hits (37). When all is said and done, Heard will likely garner some attention as a candidate for CRSCBL Most Outstanding Player.

Next to Heard, there’s second baseman Dixon Williams (East Carolina) who led all Big Train regulars with a .349 batting average to go along with 37 hits, 21 RBI and 18 stolen bases. As one of the faster players on the team, his speed should play a huge factor in stealing runs for the Big Train.

Although he did not play in as many games, third baseman Jack Guerrero (UNC Wilmington) deserves a lot of recognition in the Big Train’s lineup. Guerrero hit .301 this season in 73 at bats, going along with two home runs and 11 RBI. Guerrero was also great at finding ways to get on base, as he had an .835 OPS in 2023, with near even splits between on base percentage (.424) and slugging percentage (.411).

The starting pitching has been a bright spot for the Big Train this season, especially Brandon Cassedy (Christopher Newport). Cassedy leads the league with a staggering 0.64 ERA in 28 innings of work. Cassedy has been lights out all season, and he is not alone in the Big Train rotation.

Jesse Gutierrez (San Jose State) is not too far behind Cassedy in the team stats. Gutierrez has thrown 28.2 innings this season and posts a 3.14 ERA along with 23 strikeouts. Next to Gutierrez, there is also Ryan Ertlschweiger (James Madison) who started off the year very strong. Ertlschweiger posted a 2.62 ERA in six games for the Big Train in 2023, pitching 24 innings total and allowing just 17 hits in all.

With the Big Train securing the North Division title, they have earned a bye to the league championship semifinals, where they will face the highest remaining seed from the play-in round in a best-of-three series. After falling two wins short in 2022, watch out for the Big Train as they are out for revenge in 2023.

First playoff game: Sunday, July 23 vs. highest remaining seed from play-in round

3) Cropdusters Baseball (21-15, Second Place in the North Division)

After getting off to a 1-3 start to the season, the Cropdusters excelled over the latter part of their June slate, capping off the month with wins in 12 of their next 15 contests. That highlighted their regular season that saw them finish 21-15 en route to the No. 3-seed in the postseason. They were in contention for the North Division title until the final day of their season, but a forfeiture in their season finale due to a pitch count violation dropped them to second in the division behind the Big Train.

Coach Adam Leader’s club boasts one of the best offenses in the league. Their 321 hits, 250 runs, 210 walks, 195 RBIs, 111 stolen bases and collective .773 OPS all rank within the top three among the eight teams. Six hitters with at least 35 at bats finished the regular season with a batting average over .300, with another five over .250.

Headlined in that group is outfielder Matt Miura (Hawaii). The rising sophomore led all league batters in batting average (.388), registering 38 hits in only 98 at bats. Miura also led the league with a .504 on-base percentage, and ended the regular season on a 10-game on-base streak — his second double-digit on-base streak of the regular season. He’s also a threat on the bases, having swiped a team-high 17 bags.

Olney’s most lethal power bat is first baseman Jimmy Kirk (Millersville). Kirk didn’t join the club until roughly two weeks into the campaign but still produced at a high-level, crushing a club-best five home runs — tied for second-most among all league hitters, despite registering 40 fewer at-bats than the other leaders — en route to an 1.137 OPS.

On the pitching side, the Cropdusters held the third-lowest ERA (4.33) in the league, using a multitude of arms to do so. Among pitchers to make either at least four appearances, 10 finished with a sub-four earned run average. Their filthiest arm is lefty Josh Beck (Florida Tech), who led the club with 31 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work.

The Cropdusters will open the playoffs by hosting the Southern Maryland Senators in a play-in game on Saturday.

First playoff game: Saturday, July 22 vs. Southern Maryland Senators, 4 p.m., First Responder Field

4) Metro SoCo Braves (15-21, Second Place in the South Division)

Over the course of the 2023 Cal Ripken Sr. League season, it felt as if two consecutive things would never go right for the Metro SoCo Braves (15-21). Every win was followed by a loss (or even two), as they struggled with consistency all summer long. However, they have arrived at the promised land: the postseason. As they prepare to host the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (14-22) on Saturday night (7 p.m. at South County HS), there will be a lot of emphasis on which Braves team shows up and if that form of the squad can emerge victorious and make it to the next round.

The season got off to a very poor start for the Braves, as they traded wins and losses for about a week before a stretch that saw them bottom out by losing 10 of 13 to move their record to 6-16.

Nonetheless, they found ways to win. Sometimes it was late in games, like on June 15 against the Thunderbolts, when they went down 6-1 early but found a way to battle back and pick up the comeback win. Other days, the pitching was the catalyst, such as in their July 19 season finale, a 7-1 win over the top-seeded Alexandria Aces.

Jackson Coen (Georgetown) has been their best pitcher all season as he has been able to consistently command the strike zone with multiple pitches. He owns a strong 2.88 ERA across 25 innings with 24 strikeouts. Danny Salisbury (Mt. St. Mary’s) (4.84 ERA in 26 innings) has had some nice moments coming out of the bullpen down the stretch while young fireballer Matt Westley (Virginia Tech) (2.25 ERA in 12 innings) has put his high-level stuff on the line in recent weeks.

The Braves will struggle with inconsistency on the mound, as they were one of three teams to walk more than 200 batters this season. One of them, the Giants, did not qualify for the postseason while the other, the Thunderbolts, will be facing them in the Play-In Game. The Braves also threw the second-most wild pitches, also behind the Thunderbolts. Additionally, they struggled to strike out batters, ranking towards the bottom of the league in that category as well.

Offensively, though, the Braves did boast a couple of standouts. Katcher Halligan (Houston Christian) was simply a monster. He hit 60 percent of the Braves’ home runs this season (he hit three, the rest of the team had two). He led the team in RBIs by a rather wide margin as he had 33 and the next closest had 20. He hit .322, led the league with 28 walks, and tied for the lead with 38 hits. Halligan, at times, was the offense for the Braves, carrying them on his back by swatting countless extra base hits. His supporting cast was a revolving door as the Braves used the majority of its roster with regularity. Cole Fleming (NJIT) spent some time behind the plate and in the outfield, but also heated up late in the season. Bobby Leitzel (Marymount) (.265, 19 runs) and Quinn Madden (James Madison) (.293 average, 13 steals) provided good contact and speed at the top of the order as well.

At no point in the season were the Braves considered favorites to take home any hardware, but they kept fighting despite the fact that many opponents had rosters littered with power-five Division I players. As the Braves look to make a push past the elites of the league, they continue to disregard the metrics and make their mark on the league.

First playoff game: Saturday, July 22 vs. Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts, 7 p.m., South County High School

5) Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (14-22, Third Place in the North Division)

The Thunderbolts secured the No. 5-seed in the playoffs with a 14-22 record. Their best stretch of the campaign came at the end of June, when they went a perfect 5-0 between June 20-29 to separate themselves from the bottom of the league.

Silver Spring-Takoma boasts a middle-of-the-pack offense. It ranked fourth among the eight teams in total bases (420), runs (215), batting average (.267) and OPS (.748). Ten different batters with at least 35 at bats finished with an average of .250 or higher.

Headlined in the Thunderbolts’ infield are shortstop Amani Jones (Stevenson) and second baseman Zane Gross (Barry). Jones led the club in hits (35), extra-base hits (12) and RBIs (26), and reached base in 26 of his 32 games played. Gross started the campaign on fire — he had an OPS over 1.000 entering June 20 — and after stumbling at the start of July re-found himself at the plate, entering the playoffs on a seven-game hit streak.

Matthew Sicoli (Emory) stars in Silver Spring-Takoma’s outfield, leading the club with three home runs alongside a .928 OPS. Sicoli was phenomenal over the final stretch of the regular season. He went 15-for-39 at the plate in a 10-game span — including an excellent 5-for-6, three-RBI performance on July 19 — to boost his OPS from .715 to .916.

Evan Rishell (Millersville) headlines the Thunderbolts’ pitching staff with a 3.53 ERA in 35.2 innings, amassing 34 strikeouts and a 2-0 record. The lefty truly excelled in his victories; he punched out 10 and allowed just one run in 6.2 innings versus the Grays on June 25, and he struck out seven en route to a seven-inning, one-run win over the Giants on July 8.

The Thunderbolts will head to Lorton, Virginia on Saturday to take on the No. 4-seed Braves in a play-in game.

First playoff game: Saturday, July 22 @ Metro SoCo Braves, 7 p.m., South County High School

6) Southern Maryland Senators (14-22, Third Place in the South Division)

After stumbling down the stretch, the Senators squeaked into the final playoff spot, thanks to a Joe Stanzione (Gardner-Webb) walk-off home run in the penultimate game.

Southern Maryland lost four of its final five outings to fall to 14-22, but because the Senators held a tiebreaker over D.C. (winning the season series against the Grays, 4-2), they claimed the No. 6 seed overall. The Senators will now travel to Olney Saturday for their first-round matchup against the No. 3 seed Cropdusters, slated for 4 p.m.

The lowest scoring team in the league, the Senators have often struggled to put runs on the board. Their offense ranks last in the league in batting average, runs scored, hits, RBI and batter strikeouts. Southern Maryland has succeeded in hitting the ball far, tallying 65 doubles (second in CRSCBL) and 15 home runs (fifth), but these bigger swings have come at a less consistent rate, as the team also ranks last in on-base percentage.

Mikey Guy (Frostburg State) has provided the biggest spark for Southern Maryland at the plate, batting a team-leading .330 average while logging nine doubles on 31 hits. Guy also ended the year on a hot tear, batting 16-for-35 (.457) with six runs over his final 10 games of the regular season. This includes a flawless performance against the Thunderbolts, where Guy went 4-for-4 and scored twice on July 16.

Guy’s bat has also been aided by Patrick Ward (Florida Atlantic), the sole other Senator to bat above .300 while playing more than half of the games. Ward was named to the All-Star team and led the Senators with 34 hits and 16 runs.

Despite the team’s general offensive inconsistencies, the Senators’ pitching staff measures up around the league average. Southern Maryland’s 5.45 ERA ranks fifth, and they hold opposing batters to just an average of .250, the fourth lowest in the league.

Southern Maryland’s relievers provide the top arms, as Jake Zicka (Xavier) is tied for the league lead with four wins. John Gray (Wofford) has a team-best ERA of 3.04, while also tallying three wins and a save to his name.

Although their earned run average may be higher than the relievers, the team’s starters have excelled at striking batters out. Both Caleb Peterson (Middle Tennessee State) and Sean Brennan (Lock Haven) rank in the top 15 league-wide in strikeouts – 28 and 27 Ks, respectfully – across 55 combined innings.

The Senators will have quite the test in the No. 3-seeded Cropdusters Saturday night. Olney was in contention to be the No. 2 seed and North Division champions, but a pitch count violation in their season finale 2-0 victory over the Giants caused an automatic forfeit, allowing the Big Train to leapfrog them. This makes a tough matchup for Southern Maryland, because although the teams split the season series at two wins apiece, the Cropdusters were nearly unstoppable when they got rolling.

At 21-15, the No. 3 batting and No. 3 pitching team also finished with the third-best record in the Cal Ripken Sr. League. However, it’s Cropdusters’ ability to stack wins together which makes them a daunting task in the playoffs. Their summer is highlighted by a midseason streak in which they won 12 of 13 games, along with a run where they won seven of their final 11 games.

Southern Maryland has shown an ability to compete with each team, regardless of their record, and has beaten all seven other teams head-to-head this season. The fact they have done so, and know they can do so, could provide an opportunity to stack some upsets and make a run toward the championship as the lowest seed.

“I am confident in all these guys,” Guy said. “We’ve beaten every team in the league at least once this season, so if we put our best foot forward on the field, we can win it all.”

First playoff game: Saturday, July 22 @ Cropdusters Baseball, 4 p.m., First Responder Field