WICHITA — Phew.
The defending champs certainly didn’t have it easy in their opener at the National Baseball Congress World Series, but thanks to the bat of James Wharton they had just enough.
The first baseman lifted a solo homer over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh to give the top-seeded Santa Barbara Foresters a 3-2 win over the Team Elite Kings Thursday at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
“It was good to see him hit that one and he also made some great picks at first base. ‘Big Game James’ is back,” said manager Bill Pintard of Wharton, who has been in a slump recently after leading the Santa Barbara offense through the first half of the season.
The Foresters came into the game having outscored opponents 98-31 in the first three innings, but trailed 1-0 heading into the fourth after some uncharacteristic blunders. After a two-out walk, sure-handed third baseman Ryan Goetz bounced a throw to Wharton which would have been the third out. Instead, the ball went into right field and the run came around to score.
The early lead over the champs gave the Kings a feast of confidence to feed upon.
“That error allowed the run to score and all of a sudden they believed that they could play. That’s all it took,” said manager Bill Pintard. “Goetz is a seasoned guy, so it shows the intensity of this tournament and the pressure on us.”
Drew Maggi, a similarly stellar defender, bobbled a routine ground ball in the second inning as well. Starter A.J. Griffin had a good line, going 5.2 innings while giving up two runs on three hits, but he also walked four and hit a batter, laboring a bit more than usual.
“There’s a lot of pressure in being the defending national champion. If we would have lost that game there would have been headlines,” said Pintard.
VIEW FORESTERS 2009 SEASON PHOTO GALLERY
Santa Barbara responded in the fourth, however, as Goetz drew a one-out walk and James Meador hit a first-pitch single, his second hit of the game on as many pitches. Andy Workman followed with an RBI single to left field to tie things up, and Matt Valaika drove in Meador on a sacrifice fly before the inning ended.
Team Elite’s Nate Wilder picked up an RBI single in the sixth to make it 2-2, and the Kings loaded the bases with two outs before Matt Hutchison came in and induced a ground ball to end the threat. Hutchison pitched the seventh and picked up the win.
After Wharton’s homer in the seventh, hard-throwing Tyler Blanford came in and retired the Kings in order in the eighth and ninth innings to pick up the win. His fastball reached 95 mph on the radar gun.
“This game was a lot closer than I thought it’d be,” he said. “I thought we’d cruise right through this one but its probably better for us that we didn’t.”
Wichita native Ryan Hege was playing in his second NBC World Series but his first with the Foresters. He grew up watching the team at the tournament and was excited to get the start at catcher. He rifled a throw to nab a runner trying to steal late in the game and received a roar from a certain section of the stadium.
“I believe section 111 was all friends and family of mine, and I just got about 40 text messages saying ‘good game’ so it was fun,” he said with a smile.
Kings starter Brandon Mathes, who also hit in the leadoff spot, went the distance for the underdogs and drew extensive praise from Pintard.
“How could you not root for that kid? He was tremendously competitive,” said Pintard. “Early on in that game they believed they could beat us, and sometimes all you’ve gotta do is believe.
“We were shaky tonight, but we’re not going to be shaky. I think it was a case of nerves and we’ll bounce back.”
They’ll have a tough opponent to bounce back against in the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, a perennially strong team which Pintard said is one of the best squads in the field. Game time for Saturday has yet to be announced.
All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST and www.sbforesters.org.
