WICHITA — Staking Sam Stafford to a 5-0 lead will almost always do the trick.
The University of Texas lefty was untouchable at times for the Santa Barbara Foresters on Tuesday, striking out nine Sedalia (MO) Bombers in seven innings of work in a 6-1 victory to stave off elimination from the NBC World Series once again.
“Sam pitched his heart out today,” said manager Bill Pintard.
Stafford started to tire in the seventh, giving up consecutive walks and a single, loading the bases with one out. He picked up two straight strikeouts to end the threat.
Sam Stafford struck out nine batters in a gutsy start on Tuesday (SB Foresters courtesy photos).
“A lot of people might wonder why I left him in, but I think he earned the right to pitch the rest of that inning. That’s the kind of faith I have in Sam,” said Pintard.
Stafford, who hadn’t pitched yet in the tourney due to a sore back, gave up just five hits and walked four while throwing 110 pitches.
“It didn’t feel like I threw that many pitches. Coach gave me that extra time and I pretty much felt 100-percent today,” said Stafford. “It felt great to have that 5-0 lead.”
The Foresters (44-10) brought the lumber, benefitting from three home runs. Kyle Kubitza went deep to right field on a solo shot in the first, and Walker Moore blasted a two-run shot in the fourth. James Wharton decided to go straight out, hitting a mammoth blast over the center field fence in the eighth.
“We’ve started to get on a roll with the bat a bit. That homer felt really good, and I knew it was out right away. Hopefully we can keep it going,” said Kubitza.
Centerfielder Jeremy Rathjen kept the Foresters ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth with an amazing catch. Runners were on first and second, and right fielder Nick Melino had lost the ball in the overcast skies, thus not being in position to back Rathjen up. The Rice University standout went for it anyway, making a diving grab that would have scored two runs if he missed.
Ian McCarthy, a new addition to the team for the tournament, pitched the eighth and ninth innings and dominated, allowing no hits with one walk and five strikeouts — all five victims were caught looking at the third strike.
Unlike Sunday’s 100-degree, sunny weather which left many of the players exhausted and dizzy, it was relatively comfortable on Tuesday. While the thermostat read 102 as the bus arrived an hour before the game, it got down to 83 degrees in the early innings of the game.
“I definitely lucked out. That’s a 19-degree drop,” said Stafford.
Pintard and the coaching staff were continuously checking weather reports before the game, trying to avoid a previous storm-related loss. Last season, Tyler Blanford was starting, and after a first-inning rain delay was not able to return. The Foresters went on to lose the game.
“We were all trying to play weatherman before the game. If Sam gets loose and goes out there, throws an inning and it pours, we might have a situation where he can’t come back in,” said Pintard. “Thank God for those fancy phones all you guys have, because we were able to check the weather constantly.”
The team was also honored after the game with the 2010 Sportsmanship Award, marking the third time that Santa Barbara has earned that title.
The Foresters will play the Hayesville Heat on Wednesday at 8 p.m. California time. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 and sbforesters.org.
Wonderful!