The Foresters came to Wichita on a mission, but Saturday night they found themselves in a battle. Santa Barbara spotted the Anchorage Glacier Pilots two runs before the Foresters even picked up a bat.
“But [starting pitcher] Matt Leonard battled even though he didn’t have his best stuff, and our hitters battled in every at-bat,” said manager Bill Pintard.
Spurred by a four-run seventh inning, the Foresters rallied to win 6-3 to advance to the next round of the NBC World Series. “The code word for this game was ‘battle,’” said Pintard.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Santa Barbara used some clutch hitting, good baserunning, and Glacier Pilot mistakes to load the bases with no outs. That’s when second baseman Drew Maggi lined a double just inside the rightfield line to score two runs and give the Foresters a lead they would never relinquish.
“Drew’s at-bat was just another in a series of great at-bats that our hitters put together in this game,” said hitting coach Gary Woods.
That Maggi got into a position to make his game-changing hit was a testament to a team-wide attitude that started from the top.
“Thanks to my assistant coaches, I’ve never been this prepared to face a team this early in the tournament,” Pintard said. He and his staff prepared scouting reports on almost every Anchorage hitter (some of whom were familiar from CCL play, having joined the Anchorage team for this tournament). In addition, almost all the relievers that Anchorage brought in were known to the Foresters’ brain trust and Santa Barbara’s hitters responded with patience and good at-bats.
The Glacier Pilots almost put all that knowledge into the trash in the first inning, when they scored a pair of runs on a triple. They added another run in the third inning, but the Foresters responded in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by shortstop Brandon Loy. They added another run on a daring play in the sixth with a steal of home by James Meador.
The big seventh inning started with a walk to Jeremy Rathjen, an error by the Pilots (by former Foresters third sacker Joe Siddons) and a sacrifice by Tim Maitland (but one on which he reached first, too). Then came Maggi’s big hit, followed by sacrifice flies by Loy and third baseman Ryan Goetz.
The Foresters bullpen took care of the rest, allowing only one hit in 2.2 innings. “I was happy that we did so well on a night I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Leonard. Matt Hutchison got the win to improve to 2-0 in the tourney while Matt Thomson pitched an efficient top of the ninth for the save.
The patience shown by Foresters hitters, even when they were behind, was a big key to the game, said Pintard and Woods. “We had great scouting, but we also had great execution by the players,” said the manager.
On the bench in the early innings, the mood was calm, even though the score was not in their favor. “Comebacks are nothing new for us in this tournament,” noted Woods, remembering not only Thursday’s win, but also big comebacks in last year’s semifinal action.
The Foresters (2-0) continue in the winner’s bracket against the Sedalia (Mo.) Bombers. Game time is set for 3 p.m Santa Barbara time. The game will be broadcast on AM 1490 and via the Foresters Web site at www.sbforesters.org.
