Tim Kelley has four sisters and three brothers back home in Tulsa, and he picked up a strikeout for each of them with four to spare as the Santa Barbara Foresters dominated the visiting Las Vegas Baseball Club 5-0 Wednesday in the opening game of the Rawlings Tournament.
Ten of Kelley’s 11 strikeouts were swinging, and he allowed just three hits and no runs with no walks through seven innings before Matt Evers and Matt Hutchison finished things off.
“Holy cow he was good. He changed speeds and spotted the ball up. Him and (catcher Patric) Tolentino work really well together,” said manager Bill Pintard, who had said before the game that Las Vegas might be the most talented team the Foresters face all year.
The mascot-less team’s roster is filled with recent high school grads who are considered top prospects in the MLB Draft in the coming years. There was one name in particular on the roster that was crossed out as absent, but still stood out to everyone: Bryce Harper.
Harper, 16, was the cover boy in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated in which writer Tom Verducci touts him as perhaps the greatest high school baseball player of all time. He’s been the topic of numerous debates on the Foresters bus already this year, most of the chatter revolving around a YouTube video showing the sophomore as he hits the longest home run in Tropicana Field history.
“I didn’t know much about this team. All I knew was that at one point they had Bryce Harper,” said Kelley.
The way he was pitching, you get the feeling Kelley would have gotten the best of the phenom.
Team captain Ryan Goetz led the Foresters (21-7) offensively with a two-out double in the first and a two-RBI single in the seventh. Drew Maggi rocketed in to steal home right after that base hit to end the day’s scoring.
“He always seems to come through with the big hits. That’s Ryan Goetz — he’s a great player,” said Kelley, who pitches for Wichita State during the school year.
Las Vegas starter Sam Wolff, a top prospect headed to the University of San Diego on a full scholarship, struck out seven and gave up just one earned run in 6.2 innings, but he committed a costly two-out error in the fourth that eventually led to the Foresters scoring their first two runs.
The Foresters have the day off on Thursday before playing a team to be determined on Friday at 5 p.m. at home. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST and www.sbforesters.org.
