By Jim Buckley
A grand slam by catcher David Clawson lit the fuse for the Foresters offense, and they never looked back, cruising to a 15-3 win Friday night over Southern Nevada Baseball. Foresters hitters banged out 11 hits and took advantage of 14 walks by Nevada pitching—along with three hit batters—to put up their highest run total to date.
“It was great,” said Clawson with a big smile. “I was just looking for a fastball to hit up the middle, but I got the barrel out and turned on it.”
Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Cash, Austin Todd, and Blair Henley enjoy a smile after a big win.
6-16 Game Stats
David Clawson smacked a game-changing grand slam.
The BYU backstop was just one of a host of Foresters’ offensive heroes. DH Josh Jung had five RBI, three of which came on a bases-clearing triple with two outs in the seventh. Austin Todd had three RBI and was one of seven Foresters who scored a pair of runs apiece. That’s a lot of crooked numbers, but it was the pitching that first drew manager Bill Pintard’s attention, led by starter Tanner Lawson (2-0).
“I really liked the fact that our strikeout to walk ratio for the pitchers (17 to 3) was really good,” noted Pintard as kids scurried around the infield in search of postgame autographs. “Lawson got in some trouble, but got out of it and pitched well. Corey Herndon was outstanding; we’re going to see a lot of him. He’s got a lot of movement, so great to see him for the first time.”
Clawson’s slam came in the third and broke up a 1-1 tie. The Foresters then batted around in the seventh, keyed by Jung’s triple and aided by an RBI single from Ryan Cash. The Sters added three in the eighth, scoring three more without a hit as Nevada pitchers got wild, allowing four walks and hitting a batter.
Pintard did note that his hitters took their time, even as the game got out of hand. “Our guys stayed patient, still working counts and taking walks when it was 8-1, 9-1. They showed a lot of poise and stayed with their approach.”
The Foresters will try to keep things rolling on Saturday as they face Southern Nevada again; first pitch at Pershing Park is 6 pm.
