Foresters complete 3-0 pool play at NBC World Series
WICHITA, Kansas. - In a game that saw baseballs flying all over the yard, it was a ball that went about 15 feet that made the difference. In the bottom of the eighth, Jonny Rodriguez laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring in T.J. Pompey to put Santa Barbara up 7-6 over the Haysville Aviators. The ’Sters added five more in the inning to make the final 12-6 and earn a bye into the quarterfinals, which will be played on Thursday, August 1.
The weather at the Monday afternoon game in Wichita was hot (100 degrees . . . but it felt like 108!) and so were the bats. The first Foresters’ first two games at the NBC World Series did not see a lot of offense, but Game 3 was a slugfest. The game included 24 hits, eight of them for extra bases, 18 runs, and comebacks by both clubs. (It also include two players named Will Rogers, one for each team.)
The eighth inning proved decisive. The game was tied 6-6 entering the bottom of the inning but the Foresters scored six runs to pull ahead decisively. Pompey walked and stole second and went to third on a single by Dee Kennedy. The Aviators could not deal with Rodriguez’s bunt and Pompey slid in safely. Kennedy and Rodriguez moved to scoring position on the play and Daniel Patterson knocked both in with a pinch-hit single. After stealing second, Patterson scored on Jackson Freeman’s single to right. Freeman stole second and scored himself thanks to Kaden Petersen’s single and Freeman’s own excellent slide at home plate. Santa Barbara’s Will Rogers then singled up the middle to wrap up the big inning. (If you’re scoring at home, three of those runs came on two-out hits, which, as we all know, “win championships.”)
That very active eighth capped off a back-and-forth game.
Haysville put the Foresters in a hole in the first inning. After runners reached base on an error and a double, a sac fly made it Aviators 1-0. Santa Barbara got right back at it, and the hot-hitting Jack Holman was in the he thick of it again. With DH Augie Lopez on first, Holman rifled a double into the right field corner—he has a hit in each of the ’Sters NBC games so far. With two outs (naturally), Andrew Semo then smacked a two-run single into left field and put the Foresters on top.
The Aviators scrapped together a tying run in the top of third, but it could have been worse. Holman, playing right field, cut down a potential tying run with a great throw to Semo at the plate.
In the Foresters’ third, T.J. Pompey broke the game open with a two-out, three-run homer to put the Foresters up 5-2.
But the lead didn’t last. The Aviators got a leadoff double in the fourth, then an infield single, and Foresters starter Payton Gubler hit a batter. With the bases loaded, a sac fly scratched back another run for Haysville. Then a single just eluded a leaping Kennedy, playing second base, and two runs scored to tie the score 5-5.
Andrew Guardino provided some needed relief for a hard-luck starter Gubler, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced after taking over with men on in the fourth.
In the fifth, Rogers hit a line shot over the left field wall to put the Foresters up 6-5.
In the top of the seventh, Haysville tied it up again, putting runners on the corners after a walk and a bloop single. A ground ball was not hit hard enough to turn the double play and the tying run scored to make it 6-6. Then, with two runners in scoring position, Rodriguez, playing first, made a great running catch in foul ground to end the inning. That set up the big eighth, in which Rodriguez also played a starring role.
Kennedy, Pompey, Semo, and Rogers each had a pair of hits, while Pompey’s 3 RBI led the team. The ’Sters also stole three bags, while pitchers racked up 10 strikeouts.
Santa Barbara had to work hard for it, but will enjoy two full days off until Thursday’s matchup against an opponent to be determined. Check back on our Schedule Page, as well as Facebook and Instagram, for updates on game time and more.
(Article courtesy of Santa Barbara Foresters)
