It’s a mind-bender just to try and visualize the play that scored two runs for the Urban Academy Barons in the top of the tenth inning on Tuesday, giving them a 6-4 victory over the Santa Barbara Foresters at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Here goes nothing.
Chris Lloyd was on first base and Jarred Frierson was at the plate with two outs and Matt Hutchison on the mound. Frierson slapped a ground ball up the middle and Foresters shortstop Brandon Loy sprinted to backhand it. After making the snag, he made a backhanded flip to Davis Duren at second in an effort to get Lloyd on the force-out. The flip went wide, and Lloyd turned the corner to go to third. Hutchison scrambled and picked the ball up right behind the mound and fired to Drew Maggi at third base. That throw went wide, and Lloyd came in to score as the rest of the Barons came out in front of the dugout to welcome him in.
Maggi threw home and it went wide, sending the ball into the group of Barons which had just exited the dugout. Catcher Ryan Hege scrambled to get it and throw to Hutchison covering at home, but didn’t get it there in time as Frierson came all the way around from where he started to score.
Foresters (29-10, 12-4) manager Bill Pintard was livid, saying that interference should have been called on the Barons exiting the dugout, but the argument was futile.
Got it?
If not, just know that there were three throwing errors on the play and Frierson came all the way around as two runs scored. The Barons then held on for the win.
While Pintard was upset about the call, he said that the flip probably shouldn’t have been made in the first place.
“The umpires didn’t even see that half the dugout was out on the field, but that play happened with two outs. We could just eat the ball and the worst that happens is there’s a man on first and second with two outs. We sort of lost our composure,” said Pintard.
The extra-inning circus overshadowed a big performance by James Meador, who went deep in his first two at-bats and drove in all four Santa Barbara runs. The West Coast Conference Player of the Year out of the University of San Diego was homerless heading into the game.
“Nothing changed today, I just saw the ball a little better. I’m taking the same swings I was taking at the beginning of the season,” he said. “It’s a letdown because we got those runs early, but we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Sam Stafford pitched well in the start, striking out nine while giving up four runs on four hits in six innings. Kevin Dickey was lights-out in relief, pitching three no-hit innings. Pintard said that Dickey’s slider was as good as he’s seen it all summer.
The Foresters host the Barons again on Wednesday with first pitch set for 5 p.m. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST and www.sbforesters.org.
