GLENDALE — Albert Minnis pitched a gem and Jeff McVaney kept up his remarkable hitting terror as the Santa Barbara Foresters beat the Glendale Angelenos 3-0 on Friday at Casey Stengel Park.
With the San Luis Obispo Blues beating the O.C. Pioneers, the Foresters maintained a half-game lead atop the standings in their quest for a ninth consecutive California Collegiate League title.
Minnis, a lefty out of Wichita State, pitched six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and just one walk.
“To see him with that kind of command and control was something that I’m really happy with,” said manager Bill Pintard. “That’s definitely his best outing of the summer.”
McVaney, meanwhile is now hitting .455 on the season and hit two doubles with an RBI and a run scored. His hitting streak is now at 17 games.
“It’s amazing,” said Minnis. “I’ve never played with anyone who’s been hitting the ball so well and so consistently.”
We addressed that after the game, and it was a big negative… We had three real chances for situational hitting and only succeeded on one of them.
McVaney hit an RBI double to bring home leadoff man Brett Vertigan in the third inning. He would score along with James Wharton on back-to-back singles by Derek Legg and Nick Melino in the eighth. Michael Ratterree also had a pair of doubles in the game, and Melino added a fifth double.
Spenser Messmore pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing a walk and a hit, while Stephen Johnson picked up his fourth save of the season.
The Foresters (30-10, 21-10 CCL) host the Menlo Park Legends in a non-league contest on Saturday night at 5 p.m. Glendale is now 20-20 overall and 8-19 in the CCL.
