Louie Lechich had a monster game, belting a three-run homer and going 6-for-6 to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 19-4 rout over the SoCal Catch to gain a split of a doubleheader on Sunday in Whittier.
The Catch won the opener, 3-1.
The Foresters broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the fourth inning. Tyler Krieger continued the early success he has had in his Forester career with his second solo home run of the series. Jerry McClanahan followed up with a single and moved to second on Ryan O’Hearn’s single with one out. Austin Darby connected with a two-out single to score McClanahan before Lechich jacked a 3-run homer to dead center field.
Two more came across in the fifth for the Foresters. After Colt Atwood singled and Tyler Krieger walked, the duo moved up on a successful double steal. O’Hearn’s two out single drove both men in to extend the lead to 8-3.
The offense kept coming in the sixth as eight straight men reached base to score seven more in the inning. With 20 total hits, many Foresters had impressive games individually.
Lechich scored three runs and was a triple shy of the cycle. O’Hearn finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored and Krieger went 3-for-6 with a walk, three runs scored and four RBIs. Darby went 2-for-4 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored.
Andrew Godaill started the second game, going five innings to earn the victory.
In the first game, scheduled for seven innings, Keaton Siomkin took the mound for the Foresters, pitching five innings and striking out eight. However, three runs came home against him, two earned.
The Foresters struck early, thanks to Krieger moving around the bases all on his own. After walking with two outs, he stole second and moved to third on the error by Catch catcher Tyler Harris. One pitch later, Krieger scored on a wild pitch by Catch pitcher Scott Weathersby.
The run would strand nine men on base, including two in the second, fourth, sixth and the final inning. The Foresters had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, but O’Hearn grounded into a game-ending double play.
SoCal scored two in the second thanks to a Jonathan Munoz double with the bases loaded and no outs. They would add an insurance run in the fifth.
