By Matthew Landis
The Foresters fell to the Halos, 5-4 in a long ballgame filled with lackluster defense and a plethora of strikeouts. The ‘Sters committed three errors and their bats became ice cold, only gathering six hits. The Halos routed the ‘Sters, racking up twelve hits and a number of doubles.
Halos left fielder CJ Witkowski took the delivering from Larson and roped a long double to lead off the second inning. With one out, fellow outfielder Ryan Santana hit a sharp grounder that was spectacularly fielded by ‘Sters’ second base men, Reggie Southall. Backhanding the ball, Southall hurried the throw and rifled it past first base. Witkowski rounded third and scored the lone run of the inning, putting the Halos up 1-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Foresters took the lead due to Jaylin Davis’ continuous stellar play. Jaylin earned the honor of the EP 19 Beverage Player of the Game going 1-5 with a triple. With one out, Southall drew a walk and trotting down to first. Davis came up to bat and smashed a laser to center field, leaving the center fielder in the dust. Following a Cole Atwood strikeout, pinch hitter Bret Boswell stepped in the batter’s box. Boswell hit a laser down the right field line, spraying up chalk. Boswell was into second base standing and Davis scored easily from third, 2-0.
The Halos scored three runs in the next inning thanks due in part to sloppy defense by the Foresters. Santana hit a soft grounder to shortstop David Greer, who then botched the play, allowing Santana aboard to first. Catcher Nick Murphy and second basemen both singled, loading up the bases for the Halos. ‘Sters’ catcher AJ Kennedy caught a pitch from Larson and proceeded to fire it back to the mound over his head. The ball rolled to shortstop, allowing Santana to score on the error. The offense continued for the Halos with Jordan Brower singling in the run, making it 4-2.
In a back and forth ballgame, the Foresters inched closer to the lead. Granger Studdard hit a line drive single, and then promptly stole second base. Kennedy came to bat and scored Studdard from second with a single of his own. Southall singled after but was stranded on base with Davis striking out, 4-3.
The ‘Sters tied the game up in the sixth with smart baserunning from David Greer. Greer drew a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third after a failed pickoff attempt from the Halos. Studdard recorded an RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field, tying up the score 4-4.
The Halos took the lead again in the top of the eighth inning and won the game by a score of 5-4. With two outs, pinch hitter Austin Rodriguez drew a walk and the Halos had two runners on base after a single by Evans. That single in the eighth gave Evans four hits on the game. Brower came up to the plate and continued the rally. He hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Rodriguez.
