By Jalen Kang
Starting pitcher Jackson Cloud led the Foresters to a 4-0 shutout victory against the Ventura Pirates in their home opener, striking out nine across six innings of work in the ‘Sters’ first game at Eddie Matthews Field on Sunday afternoon.
“I felt really good, the cutter was working really good today. Fastball was good, lots of swing and miss. I’ve been playing with the changeup and that worked really good today, everything felt good… It helps when you have a really good defense, a bunch of players that will make above average plays.”
Cloud was lights out in his first outing, posting three one-two-three innings and retiring 14 of the last 15 batters he faced. The ‘Sters pitching staff starts the 2024 season off hot with 18 innings of shutout baseball across their first two games, as they silenced the San Luis Obispo Blues 2-0 yesterday.
The ‘Sters scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second. Jack Holman led off the frame with a double to right-center and advanced to third thanks to a passed ball. With two outs, Joe DiMaggio delivered an RBI single, giving the ‘Sters the 1-0.
After putting together solid at-bats and hitting balls hard all game, the ‘Sters offense broke through in the eighth inning with three insurance runs to push their lead to 4-0. Dee Kennedy kicked things off with a walk, advanced to second thanks to a balk, and Addison Klepsch switched places with him after smoking an RBI double over the right fielder’s head to make it 2-0. Will Rogers drove in the third run with a single, and with the bases loaded, Dominic Smaldino was hit by a pitch to bring a fourth run home.
Ty Zahradnik earned himself a hold, pitching a scoreless seventh and eighth inning out of the bullpen. Garrett Stratton dominated the ninth inning with major velocity to take care of the Pirates and secure the victory.
Catch the Foresters as they look to start the 2024 season 3-0 against the San Luis Obispo Blues at home on Tuesday, June 11 at 4 p.m. Tune in or listen to Foresters games from anywhere by visiting our YouTube channel.
