The Santa Barbara Foresters punched their ticket to the elimination stage of the NBC World Series with a 13-0 rout of the BTL Hornets (Kansas) on Saturday night at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.
The Foresters will take on the Liberal Bee Jays to round out pool play on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. PST. Through two pool play games, the ‘Sters have outscored their opponents 21-0.
The Santa Barbara offense left no doubt that it would be the story of Saturday’s contest, dropping six runs in the top of the first to set the tone.
Chris Newstrom (UCSB), Cole Chamberlain (Oregon) and Donovan Lasalle (Louisiana) each roped run-scoring singles in the big first inning. Meanwhile, two runs scored on a passed ball, and one came in to score on a fielder’s choice.
Tanner Grove (Cal) then took the mound for the ‘Sters and completely dominated, allowing just three baserunners and striking out nine batters in just four innings of work.
Meanwhile, Santa Barbara tacked on one run in both the second and third innings thanks to RBIs from Brady Janusek (Baylor) and Sawyer Farr (Oklahoma) to extend the lead to 8-0.
Grove handed the ball off to Carter Speights (UC Davis), who worked around a walk in the bottom of the fifth for another scoreless frame to preserve the shutout.
The final blow came in the top of the sixth, when the Forester offense roared back to life with a five-run inning to pull away for a 13-0 lead.
Kurt Ippolito (Baylor), Carter Rutenbar (Arkansas), Joseph Sandusky (Texas A&M) and Farr all drove in runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
With the mercy rule in effect, Grady Westphal (Kansas State) came on and tossed a scoreless bottom of the sixth to secure the victory for Santa Barbara.
The middle of the lineup got it done for the ‘Sters, as the 3-4-5-6 hitters of Newstrom, Chamberlain, Ippolito and Janusek went a combined 5-for-13 with five RBI and eight runs scored.
Meanwhile, the Forester pitchers allowed just three hits and combined for 12 strikeouts in their six total innings of action.
