Gilchrist Fronts Washington Post

It’s probably not the way he wanted to make the front page of the Washington Post, but it’s not bad: State Delegate Jim Gilchrist’s cheering face graces the front page of this morning’s Washington Post in the paper’s roundup of how fans (and the team itself) are looking forward after the Redskins’ dismal season.

The caption read: “Redskins fans Jim Gilchrist, left, and Jeff Walker react at Nellie’s Sports Bar in the District after a play against San Diego.”

Now, listen: No one give Jim guff just because he wasn’t at a Rockville sports bar, OK?

Jim is on the District 17 legislative team, which represents all of Rockville as well as parts of Gaithersburg and Garrett Park.

Congratulations Jim! Better luck next year . . .

Rockville Express No-Hitter Friday Night

Here’s a slightly belated recap (my fault) of our hometown ball club’s no-hitter Friday night:

Joe Supple (Santa Clara) was pitching like he had somewhere to be Friday night, July 10, when the Rockville Express faced the Maryland Redbirds. After the Redbirds scored one run in the top of the first inning due to a walk and a few stolen bases, Supple held the Redbirds scoreless and hitless for the rest of the game, recording a no-hitter for the season. The game finished in just over two hours.

Kyle LaHonta (Gonzaga) drew a key lead-off walk in the first inning and Jeff Reynolds (Harvard) followed with a double to put the first two batters of the game on for the Express. Both would later come in to score off of walks by Redbirds pitching.

Along with giving up no hits, Supple recorded eight strikeouts mostly due to an unhittable breaking ball. “Joe was able to get ahead on most of the batters he faced and then finished them with big pitches,” said Express pitching coach Nick Puccio. “He has really come around and it’s mostly due to the fact that he is able to throw strikes.”

All games are at Knights Field on the Montgomery College Rockville campus. To learn more about the Express go here.

Rockville Express Beat Herndon Braves

We don’t always carry Rockville Express baseball news, but they’ve got a new intern who has helpfully been supplying us good game recaps so here is a rundown on our hometown ball team’s win last night:

On Tuesday night, July 7^th, the Rockville Express defeated the Herndon Braves 9-4 in a game that was continued from a rain delay back in June. Dan Moller (Temple) started on the mound for the Express and threw 6 1/3 strong innings before Gary Levesque (Rhode Island) came in and closed it out.

Along with Moller and Levesque’s solid pitching, the offense came alive as well. Key hits by Justin and Ian Leisenheimer (Maine) and Ryan Geffert (So. Connecticut) along with Jeff Reynolds (Harvard) two run homerun in the 6^th inning provided the offense the Express needed to acquire the win.

“We were able to overcome our errors and get key hits when we needed them,” said head coach Jim Pereira. The win was a much needed one due to the Express’ recent struggles after starting off the season strong. With the win, Rockville improves to 7-16 on the season after having started off 4-0. The Express hope to use this win to gain momentum for the remainder of the season.

The next games are: Thursday July 9^th, Friday July 10^th, and Saturday July 11^th, against the Alexandria Aces, Maryland Redbirds and Youse’s Orioles.

All game are at 5:00 PM at Knights Field on the Montgomery College Rockville campus. To learn more about the Express go here.

Adult Flag Football For Rockville

RASL Logo, from their website

I got a note this morning from Uy Hoang, who is co-founder of the Rockville Athletic Sports League. The note was informing me that flag football was coming to Rockville!

This sounds like a lot of fun to me. Here’s what Uy says: “We’re pretty excited to bring flag football here and think it’s going to be the start of something great.” Love to see that enthusiasm!

Anyway, leagues are beginning to form now and you need to be 18 or over to play. This looks like a great way to meet others, have fun, and mingle.

Go here for all the info you need.

Rockville Express Season Begins Saturday [UPDATED]

Our hometown baseball team’s season opener is this Saturday at 4pm at Knights Field at Montgomery College! The Rockville Express will be facing the Maryland Redbirds.

Mayor Susan Hoffmann will throw out the first pitch in this, the opener for the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League’s  2009 season.

[UPDATE: I have learned that Mayor Hoffmann had a schedule conflict, and Council Member Piotr Gajewski will be doing the honors.]

Admission is $3 and kids under 12 are free.

I think the rain shold be gone by then, so come on down!

Here are a few other upcoming home games:

• Monday, June 8 vs. SS-Takoma Thunderbolts, 5 pm
• Wednesday, June 10 vs. Herndon Braves, 5 pm
• Friday, June 12 vs. College Park Bombers, 5 pm

Rockville Express Seeking Host Families For 2009 Season . . . Now!

Rockville Central friend Tina Campbell passed along a request from the Rockville Express baseball team: as they did last year, our home team is seeking host families for players this summer.

Here is what Tina sent:

Love Baseball? Have Kids who play Little League?
Like the idea of sharing your home with a possible Major Leaguer?

Host a College Baseball Player this Summer

The Rockville Express Baseball team is currently searching for host families for the 2009 Season. This summertime wood bat league is a part of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate League and attracts some of the most talented college baseball players from across the nation. These players have been recommended by their college coaches and recruited to play by the Express, with many having the potential to succeed as professional baseball players.

A vital part of a successful season is to have host families provide housing for the players, giving them support and a family atmosphere for the summer. When you host a player, you are not just taking on a guest for the summer. Your family will be embarking on an experience that will make you a part of an extended baseball family.

Host Family Responsibilities:

• Be available to host a player from June 1st – August 3rd
• Provide a clean, safe, and pleasant environment for the player to stay
• Provide a private room or private area for the player to sleep
• Provide food and/or meals for the player
• Provide access to laundry equipment (players do their own laundry)
• Players provide their own transportation

Host Family Benefits:

• Free admittance to all home games
• 50% discount on Rockville Express Summer Camps for host family children
• You will become more involved with the community
• The player will be a positive role model for your children
• You have an opportunity to make a positive impact on a young man’s future
• You might be getting to know a future Major League star!

If you are interested in hosting a player, or would like more information, please contact Tina Campbell at 301-315-9008 or by email.

Rockville Express home games are played on the Rockville campus of Montgomery College. For more information about the Team, please see our website.

Real Maryland Is Really In Rockville

Last year the United Soccer League added Real Maryland FC to the USL Second Division for our area north of the nation’s capital. Although the team had to play elsewhere during its first season, the Monarchs are now home! This weekend this professional team will open the spring soccer season at our very own Richard Montgomery High School Lester Stadium.

A preseason game will be on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 1:00 PM – Real Maryland FC vs. Rochester Rhinos (USL First Division). Admission is $5 at the gate. If a club team comes to the games in their game jerseys with 20 or more players, 10 players will get in free. The concession stand will be open.

Last year Victor Moran, the principle owner, said “We are going to create a REAL event, not just a soccer game, that’s why I named the club Real Maryland FC.”

After the game, you can stop by Austin Grill in the Rockville Town Center for a meet and greet with the players! Welcome our team to Rockville!

Here’s the season schedule.

The Real Maryland Monarch also want to form the first 2009 Monarch Dance Team! They are looking for approximately 8-10 members over 18 years of age (graduating high school seniors, college students, and professional dancers are welcome). The 2009 tryouts will be held April 5th at Richard Montgomery High School from 4-9 PM. Registration will begin at 4:00 PM and go until 4:45 PM.

Sledding Hills In Rockville

If you are of a mind to capitalize on today’s second-in-a-row snow day, you may be thinking about hitting the local sledding hills. Who wouldn’t?

Email us with more, and I will add them.

You’re welcome!

Congratulations To Rockville Marine Corps Marathon Finishers!

[UPDATED]

As my friends know, I ran in yesterday’s Marine Corps Marathon and was lucky enough to finish. What a fantastic experience.

Turns out there is a way to filter the race results by city, so I went ahead and looked at all the finishers from Our Fair City. We have some really strong marathoners in our town!!

Here is a link where you can look at the results for all 163 Rockville finshers.

Of special note is Jack Beaulieu, the fastest finisher in town. Age 65, he completed all 26.2 miles in 1:59:14, placing him 13th overall in the field and first in his division. Wow.

Way to go, Jack!

UPDATE: Neil points out in the comments that Jack is from a different Rockville. (Silly me.) And, Piotr Gajewski dropped me a note to point out that the world record for marathons is something like 2:04, so there must be some mistake — the standings on the site show 1:59 but there must be an error.

So, let me congratulate the NEW fastest Rockville (MD) Marine Corps Marathon finisher: Andrew Gunther, 33, with a time of 2:49:32, placing 71st overall and 20th in his division. Congratulations, Andrew!

The Millenium Trail Is Fun

As some Rockville Central readers may know, I am training to run the Marine Corps Marathon in October. I’m running in connection with the Organization for Autism Research and raising money for them. This is the first marathon I’ve run since I ran the LA Marathon back in the early 1990’s.

So, I need to get in some better shape, and I have been increasing my run mileage. This weekend for the first time, I had the opportunity to run Our Fair City’s Millenium Trail, which is a bike 10.6 mile route that essentially runs around the perimeter of Rockville. It starts at the community center being built at Fallsgrove and runs around Gude, Norbeck, Wooton Parkway, and then back to Fallsgrove. Here’s a map.

It was a hoot! I know other readers are runners, including Cindy CG, and I am sure they know all about this. But I just wanted to pass along my experience.

The trail is more of a path, really, but you are out of traffic for the whole way. It’s 10.6 miles all the way ’round. It starts at the new community center being built in Fallsgrove, and is marked in half-mile increments (the markers are in the pavement). The numbers run clockwise, but I found it most pleasant to run counterclockwise (that is, I started running into Fallsgrove proper from the community center).

The route felt safe and manageable throughout, but there are some caveats. First of all, there are three or four major intersection crossings, with traffic signals . . . you will have to wait. If oyu are going for speed, you will have to figure out a way to take down time into account. Second, the final stretch, along Gude, is just a little bit, um, industrial. Lots of cars whizzing by (not right next to you) and lots of light-industrial buildings. It was hard to keep up my motivation along that stretch. Finally, it’s important to pay attention to the signs so you don’t get off-track. Some of them are a little confusing while in the throes of exercise (I don’t know about you, but I am not always thinking clearly when I am exhausted from running).

The route has a few gentle hills that are more of a psychological barrier than anything. There is nothing too steep.

Another local blogger, Don Libes, has posted a map at MapMyRun and it is excellent.

Overall, I found myself thinking as I ran that the Trail would be a good candidate for an informal “fun run” contest sponsored by some worthy organization. (Like the Twilight Run?) It would be a neat way to feature Our Fair City.

Let me know if you are ever interested in a weekend run to build mileage. I typically do my long run on Saturdays. If a group coalesces, maybe we can do it together!