Foresters Win on Opening Day
By Jim Buckley
With five national championships in 11 seasons, including one in 2014, Foresters fans are used to winning. That tradition continued on Opening Day, as the Sters shutout the San Diego Waves, 5–0.
The 2014 NBC World Series National Championship banner was presented to those loyal fans in a pregame ceremony that included presentation of all five title banners and a first pitch from GameDay Sponsor Montecito Bank & Trust’s Javier Quezada.
Gary Cornish from the University of San Diego got the win with six shutout innings, walking none and striking out six. First baseman Troy Conyers had the big blow, a massive home run to right that might still be bouncing down Hollister Avenue. The Foresters scored two more in the in fourth on back-to-back two-out doubles by the double-play combo of shortstop Matt Whitney and second baseman Marcus Hutchinson. The latter had earlier had the crowd on its feet with his diving stop of an inning-ending grounder. Santa Barbara scored two more in the sixth inning on singles by outfielder Michael Smith and catcher Jeremy Montalbano.
Tylor Megill from LMU shut down the Waves over the final three innings to preserve the shutout.
“I was really happy with how it went on our first day,” said manager Bill Pintard. “We had a great crowd and it was good to see great pitching, great defense, and clutch hitting in our first game together.”
Sunday’s game is at 1 pm, NOT 4:30 as was mistakenly put in the game program. Spread the word . . . and let’s keep the party rolling.
