After some time off due to the first rainout in the Santa Barbara Foresters’ 17-year history, the team took the field against the Glendale Angelenos at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Tuesday evening.
It was a day to remember for both past and present Foresters, as 13 former players were selected in Major League Baseball’s draft, while the current team improved their record to 3-0.
Santa Barbara defeated Glendale 3-2 to win their California Collegiate League opener.
The Foresters started the game well behind the long arm of 6’8” Tom Lemke, a right-hander from the University of Nebraska. Lemke pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
“He hasn’t been on the mound for a while, and was a little rusty on the slider, but he’s always been a strike-thrower,” Foresters pitching coach Dan Yokubaitis said. “He had two walks, which was unusual for him, but he controlled the game for the first five innings.”
The offense supported Lemke’s strong showing in the early innings. First baseman and Forester veteran James Wharton drove in two runs on two hits, and scored on an error by the Angelenos’ catcher, giving the team a three-run lead.
While Lemke and Angelenos starting pitcher Sean Wardour both had solid five-inning performances, the pitching coaches spent more time on the mound than some of the relievers, as each team used four pitchers in the final four innings.
17 year-old right-hander Ryan McNeil was brought in to relieve Lemke. The Nipomo High School standout started strong, but soon began straying away from the strike zone and gave up a run, causing Yokubaitis to use right-hander D.J. Gunderson to get the Foresters out of a jam in the seventh inning.
The Foresters’ defense stayed consistent despite the pitching changes, with third baseman Derek Legg and second baseman Jeff McNeil both having excellent defensive outings. McNeil provided the top highlight of the night with a breathtaking diving grab to rob the Angelinos of a base hit.
Brad Kottman, a lefty from Rice University, was then brought in to finish the game. His off-speed pitches kept the Angelenos guessing, but Kottman gave up a run, then walked the next batter to put the go-ahead runner on base.
Yokubaitis made his final pitching change of the day, as the Foresters were one out away from keeping their undefeated season intact. Ryan Hawthorne, a lefty out of LMU, strutted onto the mound and threw three strikes in four pitches to seal the victory for Santa Barbara.
“I came back into the dugout because I thought [Kottman] was going to close it,” Hawthorne said. “But we got into a little bit of trouble and Yokubaitis looked down and said, ‘Are you ready?’ and I said, ‘Alright.’”
The Foresters will hop on the team bus for the first time this season and head south to Glendale for a grudge match with the Angelinos on Wednesday night at 7:05 PM. Mitch Mormann, a right-hander from Wichita State, will return to the mound after an impressive performance on opening day.
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast on AM 990 KTMS and sbforesters.org.
Yokaliar…. did you draft this? another mr
meme there is no y in team.
This will be their year