KEVIN’S KORNER:

The Tbolts’ own video journalist, Kevin Adler, zooms or meets with a Thunderbolt in person; focusing on a player or member of the staff. Maybe this person is on the team now or maybe they were in the past. Perhaps they perform unseen by the fans before or after the game. Or maybe what they do takes place in dens and attics far away from the field. Whoever he interviews, Kevin will bring you an up close and personal look at those who help make summer baseball possible at Blair.

For more than 30 years, Kevin has served as a business journalist and worked extensively for leading publications in energy, personal finance, and other fields. He's been an in-house editor and a freelancer writing for multiple clients simultaneously. He is also highly committed to the arts and to local activism with leadership roles for local music festivals, fundraisers, and grants programs. This is his first season with the Thunderbolts.

His video reports will appear throughout the spring and summer and let you see for yourself the people that breathe life into the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts.

WATCH KEVIN’S VIDEO REPORTS

Quincy Via— The 6’3” 185 infielder from Springfield, VA, steadily worked his way into the regular lineup during his freshman year at Marymount University and finished with a .294 average and an OBS of .400. The speedy outfielder was 6-for-6 stealing bases and has been a key contributor to the T-Bolts this summer, batting .271 with 13 stolen bases. He excels academically, too, making the Dean’s List in his first semester.

At the July 4 Parade in Takoma Park, Kevin caught up with Q and asked him about parades, the season, and how he helps his team.

Max Eckert—Max is Director of Player Development for the Thunderbolts and one of the two Assistant Coaches (along with Garrett Driscoll) and no one was happier in clinching a playoff spot than he was. He serves as the Bolts first base coach and works with the players regularly to develop their skills.

He is the founder of Wild Bill Sports (a local travel baseball organization) and consults on player development for several local leagues. He began his collegiate career at Potomac State and finished at Stevenson University, where he was the 2009 MVP and broke the single season and career home-run records. In 2010, he played 22 games for the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League (CA).

He now seeks to give back to and coach the game he loves. One of those ways was talking with the T-Bolts Video Journalist Kevin Adler during the recent Fourth of July Day Parade about the T-Bolts, baseball, and how the team and summer collegiate wooden bat baseball fits into the community of Takoma Park and Silver Spring.