By Aidan O’Neill
A measure of great teams is the ability to bounce back, and the ‘Sters on Friday afternoon did so in a big way, defeating the Ventura Pirates by two touchdowns, 14-0.
The 2nd inning was sheer dominance from the boys in royal blue, scoring 6 runs and batting through their entire order.
SS TJ Pompey started the madness with a leadoff walk, followed up by Jack Holman getting plunked with a fastball. This set the table for Daniel Patterson, who had a monster day at the plate, with his first hit of the day finding the outfield grass.
“I just was trying to crush something up…it seemed like I was getting back to my normal approach up the middle as the game went on,” Patterson said.
Jonah Sebring, the ‘Sters most reliable bat, crushed a ball down the left field line for a bases-clearing double. A flurry of free passes, via intentional walk and hit by pitch, kept the line moving and gave the Foresters three more runs.
RHP Cody Howard had another brilliant start on the bump, fanning 6 batters in 5 innings of shutout baseball. The deadly fastball-slider combo was working all afternoon.
“Feels good to see happy faces in the dugout when the offense produces like it did” Howard said. “I had the fastball working on the outside and that slider has been great”.
A few late hits from bench bats, including a towering homer from Dominic Smaldino, allowed for the Foresters to add on to their already insurmountable lead.
A 14-0 winner is the definition of “bounce back” and keeps the ‘Sters hot.
The Foresters finish out their homestand on Saturday afternoon against the Orange County Riptide. First pitch is at 4:30pm.
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