By Jim Buckley: Only the clock could stop the Foresters offensive fireworks on Opening Night, as they stomped on the Santa Paula Halos 24-1 in a game that ended a half-inning early due to curfew. The result came after pasting them 27-1 on Thursday in the season’s first game. But the biggest news was not the Foresters’ 18 hits, but the sight of fans in the stands! More than 200 people poured into Pershing to celebrate the return of in-person baseball. They saw some sterling pitching, power batting, high-speed running, and the kind of entertaining baseball we all missed seeing in 2020.
Every Foresters batter either got a hit or scored a run, highlighted by Steven Zobac’s 3 hits and 4 RBI and Carson Wells’ 3 hits and 3 RBI. Not lost amid the scoreboard-filling output was a terrific start by Chase Farrell, who went five innings and allowed only 3 hits and run while striking out eight. Josh Swales followed with two scoreless innings and 5 “punchies,” as manager Bill Pintard likes to call them. Nick Proctor’s swerving curves wrapped up the night for SB.
The Foresters broke open a scoreless game with eight runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth. With the game in hand, attention turned toward execution and fans enjoyed 10 stolen bases, including home by Sean McLain. McLain and Andrew Rachel each stole three bags on the night. Catcher Jared Thomas not only performed flawlessly on defense for three pitchers he had probably just met, but scored a team-high five runs, while notching a pair of hits.
