WICHITA — “I always like winning, but that wasn’t the way we wanted to win it.”
A Liberal (KS) Bee Jays player uttered those words to a ballpark staffer as he left Lawrence-Dumont Stadium early Friday morning. His team had just eliminated the defending NBC World Series champion Santa Barbara Foresters on a controversial play in the 14th inning, picking up a 3-2 win.
It was an epic stalemate after each team scored two runs in the sixth. The Foresters stranded 12 runners after the sixth, and the Bee Jays picked up the final run with one out in the 14th as Kevin Carby broke up an inning-ending double play with a hard slide that took down Foresters second baseman Davis Duren.
Duren held the ball as he fell to the ground in pain, and no timeout or interference was called as Steven Tucker came around to score from second. Duren would walk off the field under his own power.
“It’s tough when a game ends like that. Davis did a great job holding that ball,” said pitcher A.J. Griffin. “I thought they could maybe give him a timeout because he was hurt… We battled our butts off today.”
Griffin, a standout starter for Santa Barbara all summer, came on in relief of Tyler Blanford in the sixth and pitched a heroic 6.2 innings, striking out eight on just five hits. Matt Evers took the loss after coming into the game in the 13th.
Blanford, a flame-thrower out of Oklahoma State, struck out eight in 5.1 innings, allowing two runs. Team captain Ryan Goetz drove in the Foresters’ only two runs of the night with a single in the sixth. While the controversial play was a tough way to end it, it was not as if the Foresters didn’t have their chances in the late innings.
Regardless, manager Bill Pintard was quick to focus on the positives of the season rather than dwell on the sour ending.
“I appreciate all my guys’ efforts. This isn’t the way we wanted to end it, but we had our chances and it just didn’t work out,” he said. “I’d rather lose with a bunch of winners than win with a bunch of losers.”
The ever-colorful Griffin was emotional as he talked about the chemistry the team developed over the summers.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team which got this tight this quickly. We’re a band of brothers, like that HBO show, and I feel like I can call these guys and they can call me any time someone needs something,” he said.
The Foresters’ season was full of success, as they went 37-13 in the regular season and won their seventh consecutive California Collegiate League title. Pitcher Matt Leonard pitched a no-hitter and also was the first link in a 4-pitcher no-no just a couple of weeks ago. Patric Tolentino played all nine positions in a win against the California Wahoo, and the team stole home four times.
Off the field, thousands of dollars were raised and memories made for youngsters Wyatt Taylor and Trent Gerke, both of whom became beloved members of the team as they battled cancer throughout the season and are both cancer-free now. Wyatt was in the dugout as a batboy for Thursday night’s game.
The Foresters finished tied for fourth in the tournament, but they will be back and re-loaded to try to win their third title in five years next season.
