By Kyle Howie
The Foresters complete the sweep! After the ‘Sters unpleasant pitching on Saturday, they flipped the switch on Sunday afternoon to keep the offense in the game. The bats did not disappoint as their five runs would be enough for a 5-3 win. Austin Ledbetter and Carson Turnquist led the way for the pitching staff and a Gianni Horvat two-run homerun was the key moment that put the Foresters on top. Ledbetter and Turnquist combined to allow 4 hits, 3 runs, and had 13 strikeouts.
No time was wasted by the Foresters as they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. After the speedy Daniel Patterson stole second, he advanced all the way home on a groundout from Anthony Silva. With runners on the corners, a couple of batters later, Rocco Garza-Gongora recorded an RBI single and scored Will Rogers from third for the second run.
The Barons tied the game throughout the 3rd and 4th innings due to a couple of miscues from the Foresters. A throwing error from the Foresters’ catcher, Rogers, down to second base allowed Delshaun Lanier to score from third. In the 4th, Maxwell Dias touched home plate after a wild pitcher from Ledbetter to bind the game at 2-2.
Rogers compensated for his error and drove in Patterson off a fielder’s choice to take a 3-2 Foresters’ lead. Dylan Lina did not let the Foresters run away with the game and hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game up again at 3-3.
Gianni Horvat took matters into his own hands and roped a rocket to left field for a two-run home run. Horvat confidently said, “The ball felt good when it hit the bat. I struck out and popped up earlier, so I had to break the tie and put some distance between them and us”. Horvat’s late-inning heroics in the 7th winded up to be the difference in the ball game as the Foresters take down the MLB Academy Barons.
As the Foresters’ season nears the midway mark, they sit in first place and a game and a half above the Orange County Riptide in the CCL South Division. Manager Bill Pintard has his squad playing complimentary baseball and the team is meshing well together. If the Foresters’ pitching and bats show up on the same day, as they normally do, this team looks bulletproof. The Foresters will play the San Luis Obispo Blues on Monday night at Sinsheimer Stadium. The game can be heard live on AM 1290 radio; or listen online or stream live via the Foresters’ website, www.sbforesters.org.
