O’ Hearn perfect at the plate as Sters Roll
by Nate Loop
The Foresters unleashed another dominating performance against the ballclub from Vegas, as they scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back, eventually winning the game 9-0.
Team Vegas trotted out Tyler Rowe to start the game on the mound, and he immediately found himself in trouble. He loaded up the bases with no outs, and then Ryan O’Hearn came up to bat, lining a 2-run single into left for the Sters first runs of the afternoon. Arby Fields came up and smacked a ground rule double to add another run. Shane Hoelscher collected an RBI on a single and later Fields went home on an attempted steal by Hoelscher, and the five run first inning was up on the scoreboard.
The two runs the Foresters tacked on in the second inning were powered by Austin Davidson. He laced a double that scored Luke Plucheck from second base for the first run. Davidson then stole third base, but on the play Rowe overthrew the third baseman Bryce Greager, allowing Davidson to race home for the Foresters seventh run of the young ballgame.
The Foresters recorded their shutout with an extensive cast of pitchers, led by starter Nick Palewicz. He went six innings and racked up nine strikeouts, allowed just two hits, and didn’t give out any free passes to first base. Dae Yang Kim, Michale Kwan, and Hunter Lemke each pitched an inning in relief (in that order). Lemke -who pitches with a violent sidearm that snaps like a rubberband as it launches the ball towards the plate- was perhaps the most impressive, as he recorded all three of his outs by strikeout.
The Foresters tacked on a run in the fiftth when Plucheck singled in Shane Hoelscher from second base. They added their final run in the seventh, when Davidson came back to pad his stats by smacking a double that scored a hustling Kaeo Aliviado from first base. Nine runs for the Foresters, and none left over for Team Vegas, and that was the sore-eyed sight for the home crowd on the scoreboard as the game ended.
The victory moves the Foresters record to 9-5 overall, and 4-1 in California Collegiate League play. The Foresters play their last game of the away series against Team Vegas Sunday night at 7:35 p.m.
