By Kyle Howie
A pitcher’s duel and a sluggish start from the Foresters’ bats led to a late offensive surge to put the ‘Sters on top of the San Luis Obispo Blues, 3-1. Both pitchers for each team were unhittable and kept the game quiet on Thursday night. The Foresters’ starter, Zane Petty’s final line included 6 innings pitched, 1 run allowed, and ten strikeouts. Kaden Tynes, the Blues’ starter, cooled off a hot Foresters’ offense through 7 innings with 8 strikeouts and just 1 hit allowed through his first 6 innings. The movement on Tynes pitched had the ‘Sters guessing all night. This was until the Foresters got to Tynes in the 7th.
The Blues started the low-scoring affair in the 2nd inning with a fielder’s choice from Justin Trimble that allowed Matt Spear to score from third. Spear reached on a leadoff single and Zachary Tallerman was able to move him to third with a double. 1-0 was the score.
Until the 7th, Tynes mowed down 18 ‘Ster batters in a row and the Blues had all the momentum. Luckily, Petty bounced back after he allowed one run, to give the Foresters a chance to win the ballgame. The offense made sure they had Petty’s back and it showed in the bottom of the 7th when Will Rogers knocked in the tying run with an RBI single. Ryan Black was able to score after he reached on an infield single and was then able to advance to second on a wild pitch. Just when the Foresters seemed lifeless, they kicked it into gear and knotted the game up at 1-1.
After the Foresters were able to get Tynes out of the game, they faced the hard-throwing Josh Blum, which was a more favorable matchup for the ‘Sters. The speedy Gianni Horvat led off the 8th inning for Jake Kendro and reached base after getting his jersey grazed by the ball. Foresters’ manager Bill Pintard took advantage of Horvatt’s wheels and stole second base to put the winning run in scoring position. Daniel Patterson dribbled a ball to the Blues’ third basemen and he ended up throwing the ball passed first and into his own dugout. Horvat was able to score on the error to take a 2-1 lead. Rogers again had timely hitting and scored Patterson with a sacrifice fly. Rogers spoke on his confidence with runners in scoring position, “It’s just fun, whenever we get an RBI we get to ‘’stir it up’ and the goal is to get as many ‘’sters’ as possible”. With a little bit of insurance, the Foresters moved into the top of the 9th inning up 3-1. Carson Turnquist was able to shut the door after 3 strong innings.
The Foresters took two out of three tight games from the Blues to win the series. The ‘Sters pitching continues to dominate and the bats always come alive at the right time. Also, the ability to win games is going to become crucial as the Foresters are now in the heat of the season. The Foresters will hope to continue their winning ways against the Academy Barons on Friday Night at Pershing Park. The game will start at 6:00 p.m. sharp and all Forester’s games can be heard live on AM 1290 radio; or listen online or stream live via the Foresters website, www.sbforesters.org.
