Foresters 5- Vegas 1
by Nate Loop
The 2012 edition of the Santa Barbara Foresters are making their last homestand of the season this weekend before they head off to Wichita, Kansas for the National Baseball Congress World Series. They host three games against Team Vegas, and a sweep guarantees them a share of the CCL crown. The Sters got right to work, and an amazing inning by Richard Sanguinetti powered the Sters to a 5-1 victory over the ballclub from Las Vegas.
The action on the field truly began in the third inning, as the excellent staring pitching proved to be tough to overcome.
Forester starter Cody Dickson proved to be a tough opponent, allowing just one hit and striking out eight in his five innings of work.
His competition on the mound came in the form of righthander Tyler Rowe, who cruised through the first two innings before coming apart at the seams in the second inning.
His first big mistake was a fastball right over the middle of the plate, which right fielder Kaeo Aliviado did well to turn into an easy double. He sent the ball flying into the wall in right-center field, missing a home run by joust a couple of yards.
Aliviado would come around to score on an RBI triple by Sanguinetti for the early 1-0 lead.
Sanguinetti wasn’t done, as he treated the capacity crowd to one of the most breathtaking sights in all of sports, a straight steal of home plate. Rowe was focused solely on home plate, and had the blinders on as Sanguinetti broke for home. The usual drama of the ball meeting the player at home was absent, as Sanguinetti’s jump on the play was so well timed his steal was a foregone conclusion, drawing a vigorous ovation from the Foresters faithful fans.
Those two runs generated by Sanguinetti would turn out to be all the Foresters needed, as their excellent pitching staff held Team Vegas to just one run on three hits. Nick Palewicz, normally a starting pitcher, gave up one run in his 2 and 2/3 innings in direct relief of Dickson.
Austin Davidson and Jacob Felts each collected an RBI in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, en route to the Foresters triumph. Davidson also scored on an error by Vegas first baseman Marvin Campbell in the sixth inning to account for the Foresters fourth run of the ball game.
Albert Minnis got the final four outs for the Sters, and secured the victory for Dickson.
The Foresters (31-14) play their penultimate game against Team Vegas tomorrow evening at 5:10pm. Once again, the ‘Sters need a sweep in order to secure a share of the CCL crown, so we are looking for a big crowd tomorrow night to spur on the Sters and wish them well as they head off to Wichita!
