Alexandria Aces (Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball)

The Alexandria Aces are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Alexandria, VA. The Aces, who are members of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, play their home games at Frank E. Mann Memorial Field at Four Mile Run Park. The Aces are owned and operated by the non-profit Capitol Baseball, Inc., and is funded through business partnerships, donations, game day admissions, team merchandise sales, concession stand sales and other fund raising efforts throughout the year.

History

The Aces were created in June 2006 by Patrick Malone, who was involved in bringing Major League Baseball back to Washington, DC after a 34-season absence, with the Washington Nationals coming to the city for the 2005 season. Malone had previously been the owner/general manager of the Haymarket Battle Cats of the Valley Baseball League in 2005. Malone became the Aces' first and only team president. Washington, D.C. lawyer Donald R. Dinan became the owner and CEO of the organization. Former Valley League coaches Eric Williams and Brian Midkiff joined the team as manager and pitching coach/general manager, respectively. Then-Bucknell University assistant coach Ben Krentzman completed the coaching staff. After extensive renovations to their home field, the Aces began play on June 6, 2008 against the Herndon Braves, a 10-0 loss at Four Mile Run. 14-year-old Matt Krause joined the team as public address announcer at the end of the 2008 season. The Aces had a disappointing 16-26 record in 2008, a year which ended in a first round playoff defeat to the Maryland Redbirds. In the offseason, the baseball field at Four Mile Run Park underwent more renovations. Midkiff left the organization shortly before the 2009 season and Krentzman left for Flagler College in Florida after three games. Their on-field duties were taken over by former Bethesda Big Train and Virginia Tech pitcher Adam Redd, while the General Manager duties were handled by Patrick Malone. The 2009 season was scheduled to begin on June 5, 2009, but heavy rain in the Washington, DC area forced the home opener to be played on June 8 instead. The Aces went 17-25 in 2009, failing to make the playoffs.

2008 season

The Aces began their inaugural campaign with a 10-0 defeat to the Herndon Braves on June 6, 2008. Alexandria posted their first win the next night, 2-1 over the Rockville Express in a rain-shortened game . The Aces had a 5-5 record on June 24, but a subsequent losing streak left the squad at 5-12. Following the defeats, the Aces won three straight, but had another losing streak in early July, losing 8 of 9 games between July 3 and 14, including two doubleheader sweeps, at the hands of the Youse's Maryland Orioles and College Park Bombers.

Alexandria rebounded with two wins over the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts on July 15 and 17. The contest on the 17th at Four Mile Run was won by a final score of 9-8, in a game that took four hours and two minutes to complete.

The final 10 days of season forced the Aces to play 10 games in 10 days, with one doubleheader at the Express and one day off due to the CRCBL all-star game. Nine days in, the Aces had gone 5-3 over the stretch, with the game from Wednesday, July 23, vs. the Express, at Four Mile Run suspended due to weather. The stretch featured three wins over CRCBL powerhouse Bethesda Big Train. This winning streak left the Aces, then at 15-24, with a chance to obtain a 1st-round bye in the CRCBL playoffs with a win over in-state rival Herndon. However, weather moved the game from Sunday evening, July 27, to Monday afternoon, July 28. Overnight, the Express forfeited the suspended game, meaning that the winner of the Monday game would obtain the bye. However, the regular season ended the way it began: with a 10-run home loss to the Braves, this time with a final of 15-5. The next day, the Aces got the chance to host their first round playoff against the Maryland Redbirds, in which the Aces fell, 11-4, in front of 213 fans who came out for the 4 PM start .

The Aces finished second in the CRCBL in attendance for their inaugural season, as well as having six players selected for the 2008 CRCBL West All-Star team.

2009 season

In 2009, the Aces returned with for their second season at Four Mile Run Park. Shortly before the season began, pitching coach Brian Midkiff left the team. He had already relinquished his on-field role to Adam Redd, but Midkiff's GM duties were handled by Patrick Malone for the season. The 2009 season saw three 2008 Aces return - Pitcher Max Knowles, First Baseman John Skaggs, and Right Fielder Tommy Grandieri.

The season began with an exhibition loss, 5-4, to the Bethesda Big Train on June 2, 2009 in Bethesda. The Aces were set to open the season at newly rededicated Frank E. Mann Field on June 5 against the Rockville Express, but heavy rain on June 3,4, and 5 forced the game to be postponed. Instead of opening at home on the 5th, the Aces traveled to face the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts to start the season on the 6th. That game saw the Aces go down in defeat, 10-2. Following a loss in Baltimore to the Youse's Maryland Orioles, the Aces returned home for their new home opener on Monday, June 8 against the College Park Bombers. The game was a pitcher's duel which ended up at a 1-1 tie after nine frames. In the 10th, Grandieri belted a solo home run, and the Aces won, 2-1, their first victory of 2009.

After three days off, Alexandria traveled to Bethesda again, but lost to the Big Train, 16-0. For the weekend of June 13 and 14, a strange scheduling quirk arose. Per the original schedule, the Aces were supposed to travel to Baltimore, and Calvert Hall High School's Crispino Stadium (which does not have lights), to face the Orioles for a doubleheader Saturday at 1 and 3:30 PM. The Orioles were then set to come to Alexandria on the 14th for a 5 and 7:30 PM twinbill. However, Cora Kelly School, which is located next to Mann Field, was having a carnival on the 14th. This made playing impossible, so the Mann Field doubleheader was moved 24 hours earlier, to Saturday at 5 and 7:30. The games in Baltimore were moved to Sunday, but the Maryland Redbirds were set to host the Herndon Braves at Calvert Hall for a 1 and 3:30 doubleheader. The Aces and Orioles were forced to play at 10 AM and 12:30 PM, with the second doubleheader taking place at 3 and 5:30 pm. The Aces and Orioles had to play four times in 22 hours, and each team took two games.

Throughout the rest of June, the Aces fought to get to .500, a plateau which they reached on June 21 with a 2-0 win against the Redbirds. However, a 12-inning home loss to the Thunderbolts the next night dropped Alexandria to 6-7. The remainder of June saw the Aces go 2-3, with wins over the Orioles and Bombers. As July came, the Aces sat at 8-10 with 24 games to play in 26 days.

July began with a rain-shortened loss in Bethesda, but Alexandria defeated the Thunderbolts, 9-2, on the 2nd. The Aces fell to 9-12 after losing at a Ripken Stadium auxiliary field to the Maryland Redbirds on July 3. After an off day for Independence Day the Aces had to play three home doubleheaders in four days. The first, a scheduled doubleheader against the Redbirds on July 5, saw the Aces drop a pair, including the second game in 10 innings. The following day, Herndon came in, and although a single game was scheduled, a game the previous week was postponed due to the field sprinkler being left on overnight. The Aces split the twin bill with the Braves, swept the Express on Wednesday, July 8, and beat the Bombers on July 10 to improve to 13-15. However, two road losses put the Aces at 13-17 heading to the All-Star Break.

Three Aces, catcher Will Davis, pitcher Kent Worthington, and right fielder Tommy Grandieri were selected to represent the CRCBL at the Mid-Atlantic Classic All-Star Game at Regency Furniture Stadium. Following the contest, the Aces came out and lost two tough road games at Herndon and Bethesda before defeating the Big Train at home on July 18. After returning to Calvert Hall and splitting a doubleheader with the Redbirds on the 19th, the Aces were hit hard against the Big Train, losing 13-6 to drop Alexandria to 15-21 with 6 games to go.

The CRCBL decreased the playoff field from all 8 teams to just the top 4 in 2009, so the Braves, Aces, T-Bolts and Bombers were fighting for two spots in the final week. The Aces split another doubleheader, this one in Rockville on the 22nd, before returning home to face the Thunderbolts in a crucial contest on the 23rd. However, a thunderstorm struck in the 4th, and the game was suspended. Another important contest was played on the 24th against College Park, and the Aces won at home, 4-1, to improve to 17-22. The final weekend of the 2009 season had the Aces facing Herndon twice, Saturday at the Braves' home field, Herndon High School, and Sunday at Mann Field. However, rain forced Saturday's game to be played at Mann Field, with the Braves as the home team, in the Aces' eighth doubleheader of the season. Unfortunately for the Aces, Herndon won both contests, handing them the third seed. Monday, July 27 featured two makeup games- the resumption of the suspended game on the 23rd, and a full game between the Bombers and Redbirds. If the 17-24 Aces won, they would be in the playoffs. However, the Thunderbolts took the game, 9-6. This finished the Aces' season, with a one game improvement over 2008.

However, over 4,000 fans came out for 2009, earning second place in attendance again.

Though the Aces were unable to make the playoffs, the pitching staff concluded the 2009 season with a very solid 3.62 earned run average.

Two Aces were named to the 1st All League Team, starting RHP's Jonathan Abramson and Kent Worthington. Abramson, a pitcher at the University of San Francisco, went on to receive the "Co-MVP" award for most outstanding pitcher of the league along with Maryland pitcher Sander Beck, who pitched for the Youse's Maryland Orioles.