Foresters unable to overcome early mistakes

Santa Barbara Foresters catcher Jared Womack had three passed balls in the first inning that led to two runs for the visiting Team Vegas, and the Foresters trailed the whole way and fell 3-0 on Friday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

The Foresters must now win their two remaining games against Team Vegas to clinch the California Collegiate League title.

In the first inning, Vegas lead-off man Duncan Blades reached second base after an error.  A pitch from Foresters’ starter Albert Minnis (Wichita State) got away from Womack  (Oklahoma State), and Minnis walked a batter to put runners on the corners.  Womack then allowed two balls to get behind him and both baserunners scored.

The ugly start to the game was not without controversy, as Womack appealed to the umpires that one of his passed balls was foul-tipped by the batter.  In the second inning, a balk call on Minnis led to a heated discussion between Foresters head coach Bill Pintard and the first base umpire.

Forester Jeff McVaney heads for first base late in the game against Las Vegas. He would be stranded on base as the Foresters failed to come up with a clutch hit.

After the first inning blunders, the game turned into a pitchers’ duel.  Minnis pitched six and one-third innings, struck out five batters and did not allow an earned run.  The demonstrative pitcher was visibly fired-up in the fourth and threw five straight strikes to start the inning.  He got all three batters down 0-2 in the count, and struck out the side.

Team Vegas starting pitcher Paul Sewald had an outstanding night, throwing for seven and one-third innings and improving to 2-2 on the season.  He struck out five  and allowed no runs on five hits.

“He shut us down,” Pintard said of Sewald’s performance.

Sewald was helped by an excellent defensive effort from first baseman Billy Bob Ward (Concordia).  Whether he was diving or leaping, Ward robbed the Foresters of several base hits to protect his pitcher’s shutout.

The Foresters threatened to score several times throughout the game, and had runners on base with two outs in the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.

“Two-out hits win championships,” Pintard said. “Well, we didn’t win a championship tonight.”

The Foresters (35-12 overall, 23-11 CCL) finish the regular season with home games against Team Vegas (14-14 overall, 14-14 CCL) on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

The San Luis Obispo Blues are finished with CCL play, and are closely watching the Foresters vs. Vegas series to see if they earn a berth to the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan.

All Forester games are broadcast on AM 990 KTMS and www.sbforesters.org.

GAME NOTES: The Foresters already earned a trip to the NBC World Series when they won the Rawlings California Cup earlier this month … The SLO Blues are hoping to win their first CCL title. The Foresters have won the CCL every year except one … The Foresters, at No. 3, and the Blues, at No. 12,  are both ranked by perfectgame.org among the top 30 summer collegiate teams in the nation.