When Manager Bill Pintard went to sleep last night, there is no way he could have expected a 13-1 victory over league rival Conejo Oaks in the final game of the Santa Barbara bracket of the Rawlings California Cup. However, the coach was definitely not dreaming.
The big win sends the Foresters to the championship game at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium tomorrow afternoon, starting at 2:00 p.m., against the Menlo Park Legends, winners of the San Luis Obispo bracket. The Oaks have given the Foresters trouble all season but surrendered seven runs in the third inning to give Santa Barbara a commanding lead.
The inning featured a steal of home by Jeff McNeil on a 0-2 pitch to James Wharton. McNeil took advantage of starting pitcher Dalton Saberhagen who was working out of the wind up position, timing his delivery perfectly and sliding into home safely under the catcher’s tag. Also in the third inning, the Foresters managed to bat for the cycle, getting singles from James Wharton and Christian Summers, a double by Blake Brown, a triple from Derek Legg, and back-to-back home runs by Michael Ratterree and Jared Womack.
Legg, who would later hit a home run in the fifth inning, explained, “They’re a great team. We just came out and tried to jump on them early, and we were lucky enough to do just that.”
Both Wharton and Ratterree finished the game with three RBIs while Summers had a big day, going three for five. Once again, Blake Brown displayed his power to opposite field with his fourth home run of the season and his third shot to right field. By the fifth inning, each starter had at least one hit and one run scored. The Foresters scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to give them a 13-0 lead, which they held until the bottom of the ninth.
Foresters starting pitcher Cody Morehouse (2-0) pitched an outstanding six innings for the win, striking out seven batters while not allowing a single walk or run. Matt Vedo finished the game, giving up just two hits and collecting four strikeouts. Two Forester pitchers got at-bats during the game.
Austin Kubitza drew a walk before being pinch-run for by Tyler Pearson. Ian McCarthy also got an at-bat, striking out, and then came into the game as the third baseman in the bottom of the ninth inning. McCarthy flashed the leather on a sharply hit ball, diving to make the stop and throwing a strike to Shane Kroker at first base for the out.
“It’s kinda like ridin’ a bike, once you play third it never leaves you,” said McCarthy jokingly after the game.
Menlo Park beat the San Luis Obisop Blues, OC Pioneers, and San Francisco Seals to advance to the championship game against the Foresters tomorrow afternoon at 2:00p.m. The winner of Sunday’s game will not only receive a cash prize, but most importantly, a birth in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas later this summer.
