By Ryan Greenberg
The Santa Barbara Foresters treated their fans to a flawless performance tonight in a 16-0 victory over the MLB Academy Barons. The Foresters executed perfectly on both sides of the ball, featuring dominant pitching from a staff of five pitchers and a complete performance at the plate up and down the lineup. In a game with many standout performances, it was Eammon Lance who stood above the rest, smacking a pair of homers including a grand slam on the way to a 7-RBI, 4-run night.
After scoring two runs in the first inning from a Lance double and Gianni Horvat single, the Foresters put up a seven-spot in the second inning. After Daniel Patterson drove in Rylan Galvan on a single, Lance crushed a grand slam, driving in Patterson, Greg Pace, and Ryan Black. On the very next at-bat, Max Belyeu went yard with a solo shot to right field. To add on just for good measure, Jalin Flores’ single drove in Horvat for the seventh run of the inning.
The Foresters added two insurance runs in both the third and fifth innings, with Belyeu, Patterson, Horvat, and Lance finding themselves on the scoresheet once again. The Foresters expanded on their thirteen-run lead in the seventh inning, scoring three to make the tally 16-0, with Belyeu, Pace, Jake Kendro, Jake Koeper, and Kevin Michaels all recording either a run or RBI.
Ben Bybee started the game on the bump for the Foresters, throwing five scoreless innings and earning tonight’s win. Zac Colletti, Michael Lombardi, Zach Erdman, and Blake Pivaroff each contributed one scoreless inning.
The Foresters travel to Compton tomorrow for the second game of the series against the Barons, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at the MLB Academy. The Foresters then return home to Pershing Park on Sunday for the series finale against the Barons, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. All Foresters games can be heard live on 1290 AM radio; listen online or stream live via the Foresters’ website, www.sbforesters.org.
