Cody Crouse cruised through seven innings for the Foresters, while Santa Barbara’s offense took Menlo Park to town for ten hits, which proved to be enough to beat the Legends 4-3 and keep the Foresters’ hot streak alive.
From the beginning, Crouse was wheeling and dealing, retiring the first eight Legends he faced. Scattering only four hits and one run (a solo shot by Menlo Park first baseman, Chandler Bengston), Crouse fanned six batters and walked none. He was not without help though, as the ‘Sters tallied ten hits on the day. This marks the sixth time this season that Santa Barbara has accumulated ten or more hits in a game, and the fourth time in their last five games.
A trio of ‘Sters, including Lex Kaplan, Dylan Paul, and Hank LoForte, led the way at the plate. Lex Kaplan notched his second straight game of going 2 for 2 with two walks, maintaining his unreal 1.000 batting average. Meanwhile, Dylan Paul went 3 for 4, as did Hank LoForte.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second inning, when the Foresters had Travis Moniot on first and Dylan Paul on third with one out. Moniot attempted to steal second and was greeted with a throw down on the play from Legends’ catcher Tyler Nelin. Moniot was safe at second, and Dylan Paul scored from third when he realized that the catcher had committed his throw to second base. In the bottom of the third with two outs, Lex Kaplan launched a solo shot to left field to increase the Foresters’ lead to 2-0. In the fourth, it was a consecutive single, wild pitch, balk, and an error, that advanced Dylan Paul all the way around the bases to tack on another run. Adding on one more run in the seventh, the Foresters seemed to have it in the bag, carrying a three run lead into the ninth.
That is when things got a little dicey. The Legends’ bats came alive in a last ditch effort. Menlo Park left fielder Nick Brooks smashed a double to leadoff the inning. Then it was Sean Watkins with a hard single to center field, advancing Watkins to third. Next up was the Legends’ Chandler Bengston, who singled to right field, bringing in a run. A sac fly by the next batter made it a one run game, with a man on first and only one out. That was when Foresters’ closer Daniel Robert beared down for the save. He got the next batter to flyout and the final batter to whiff to end the game with a close shave. After the final pitch, the Foresters raced out of the dugout and onto the mound to congratulate Robert on the save.
With half a dozen victories in a row now, the Foresters look for lucky seven on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm in their third and final game against the Menlo Park Legends.—Matthew Selman
