The rivalry between the Santa Barbara Foresters and the San Luis Obispo Blues reached a fever pitch on Sunday as the teams nearly came to blows after a couple of players were hit by pitches.
The Foresters won the game 7-0 as pitchers Thomas Lemke, T.J. McGreevy and Jeff McVaney combined on a three-hitter at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Tempers flared when Blues catcher Thomas Bernal was hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Bernal, who was hit by pitches four times in the series and barely escaped another in the top of the second, was visibly angry about the pitch thrown by McGreevy on a 0-1 count. Bernal stood at home, staring down McGreevy for an extended period of time and then started jawing at Foresters manager Bill Pintard. Home plate umpire Rick Wilson stood between Bernal and McGreevy, making sure that the situation did not escalate.
An inning earlier, Cody Morehouse was struck by a pitch in his left ear. Morehouse jumped right up and ran to first, but came out of the game when swelling began on his head after running from first to third.
The bad blood started flowing in Saturday’s game when Forester Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch while squaring to bunt.
San Luis Obispo first baseman Zac Elgie then applied a hard tag on McNeil in a pick-off attempt and the two went face to face, exchanging words.
Warnings were issued to both dugouts following Bernal’s slow walk to first, and there were no further incidents.
Pintard expressed his displeasure with Bernal: “We were not trying to hit him. We are not going to get into that kind of a deal on my watch. He was glaring at our dugout, mainly me. But if you look closely, he wants to get hit, the way he stands at the plate and all the protective junk he wears on his arm.”
The Foresters got their first run in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI single by Shane Kroker, bringing in Andrew Stumph from second base. The other six runs came in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. The sixth inning featured a well-executed safety squeeze by Lance Roenicke that scored James Wharton.
Lemke pitched four scoreless innings, finshing with six strikeouts and allowing only one hit.
“We had a pitchers and catchers meeting before the game yesterday, where we all met individually with each catcher and talked about what we like to throw on what counts and I think that really helped out a lot,” said Lemke.
Pintard brought in McGreevy in the fifth and McVaney in the eighth. The two relievers combined for six strikeouts and allowe just two hits.
“The rivalry is there. They’ve been our rival for 20 years, and we know they’re going to come to play every time,” said Pintard of the Blues.
The Foresters move to 11-2 on the season and 7-2 in the CCL. They are now one and one-half games ahead of the Blues for first place.
Santa Barbara next faces the OC Pioneers, on Tuesday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The game will begin at 5 p.m. and be broadcast on AM 990 tape-delayed one hour.
boys boys, it’s only a game.