Wharton, Foresters blow up Blues with epic ninth inning

SAN LUIS OBISPO — They started some fireworks with their bats before the actual fireworks on Saturday night.

Trailing 6-4 with the bases empty and one out in the top of the ninth, the Santa Barbara Foresters exploded for five runs on six straight hits before a 25-minute delay in the middle of the frame, eventually pulling out a 9-6 victory over the host San Luis Obispo Blues at Sinsheimer Stadium.

There was a fireworks display scheduled to entertain the big crowd after the game, but a deadline imposed by a city ordinance required things to be halted in the middle of the Foresters’ big inning so that they could be set off in time. An impressive 5-minute show was followed by 20 minutes of waiting for the stadium lights to warm up and turn back on. By that time, the Blues had already been blown up, and pitcher Cody Martin slammed the door by striking out the side in order in the bottom of the ninth.

“Every win is satisfying, but to win it in this fashion is really exciting for us — especially early in the season, because it’s a character-builder,” said manager Bill Pintard. “It’s great to see us refuse to lose.”

BOX SCORE

Left fielder Jared Womack singled and scored a run as part of the big inning. He had lost a fly ball in the lights in the bottom of the eighth that allowed the Blues to get an insurance run, but was ecstatic with the rest of his teammates when the comeback came through.

“It meant a lot that we rallied as a team and came back. It was a great feeling,” said Womack.

Jeremy Rathjen, last year’s home run leader for the team, was making his debut for the summer after finishing a stellar sophomore season at Rice University. He singled up the middle to start the rally, as Jeff McVaney and Womack did the exact same after that to load the bases. “Big Game” James Wharton then came up and blasted the second pitch he saw to deep center field and off the wall for a three-run triple that put the Foresters up 7-6.

“All three of us got on and then Big Game James comes up and hit that shot that was just a mamo-blast. I can’t even put that hit into words,” added Womack.

Wharton has been a special story in his second year as the Foresters’ first baseman. He became ill with the swine flu and pneumonia in October and was touch-and-go in the ICU of the hospital for weeks before pulling through. He lost 25 pounds in the process, but apparently didn’t lose any of his power. Against the Academy Barons in Compton on Thursday, the L.A. Pierce College slugger hit three homers in his first three at-bats.

“James got very, very sick, and there was a percentage of a chance that James could have died from that disease he got. The way he has performed has been pretty amazing,” said Pintard. “He didn’t play all year, but he’s come in and put on a show.”

On the very next pitch, Kyle Kubitza hit a stand-up triple of his own that drove in Wharton. Patric Tolentino then followed with an RBI single to score Santa Barbara’s final run, and the game was soon halted for the fireworks show. Pintard knew about the possible interruption before the game.

“We figured that if we couldn’t beat these guys in two hours and 45 minutes, we deserved to wait around anyway,” he said.

Santa Barbara fell behind by giving up two runs in the first inning for the second straight day, as starter Thomas Lemke was the victim of two fielding errors by the defense behind him that dug an early hole. The Foresters bounced back with runs in the third and fourth innings, and then added two more in the fifth to go up 4-2. The Blues fired back in the fifth, batting around and scoring three runs capped by a two-run double off the bat of catcher Cory Sullivan. SLO’s sixth run came on the error by Womack in the eighth.

“(Blues manager) Chal Fanning is a class-act, and I felt a little bad for him because he was two outs away from a big win over us,” said Pintard. “The poor guy was having to worry about stopping the game for fireworks and all this stuff.”

The Forester pitchers racked up 11 strikeouts with no walks. Rathjen’s Rice teammate, Michael Ratterree, debuted with three singles and a run scored.

“The players now know that they have it in them to come back, and they have faith in their teammates. That’s huge in any part of life,” said Pintard.

Santa Barbara (5-3, 3-2 California Collegiate League) faces the Blues (3-3, 2-2) once again in the series finale at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 and www.sbforesters.org.