Farr Out! ’Sters Win 5-0, Head to Quarterfinals

By Jim Buckley (photo by Ed Bailey)

Another solid all-around outing by the Foresters earned a 5-0 win Tuesday night over Lonestar Collegiate, sending Santa Barbara unscathed into the quarterfinals on Thursday. They’ll play at 10 AM Santa Barbara time against an opponent to be determined. On Tuesday, Sawyer Farr (pictured from Sunday’s game) was the hitting star, with three extra-base knocks, including his first homer, while “Johnny AllStaff” was outstanding—six ’Sters pitchers combined on the shutout. 

Once again, the Foresters struck first, this time in the first inning. After leadoff hitter Xavier Esquer walked and moved to second on a groundout, Brenton Clark topped a pitch to the left of the mound. The Lonestar pitcher got the ball in time, but his throw hit the speedy Clark as he reached first base. The ball caromed away and Esquer scampered home with the first run. 

Farr doubled the Foresters lead in the second inning with a homer over the left-field fence. It was his first homer of the season—good timing.

Foresters pitching was a group effort after back-to-back complete games. Noah Waldeck started and put up three innings of zeroes while striking out five. Jaden Barfield took over and kept the Ks coming with three more. J.D. Goodcase took over with a man on and got a K and a pop to retire the side. He added 2 Ks in his 1.2 innings of work, passing the rope to the next man up, Tag Andrews, who efficiently retired the side in the seventh. Next in line in the AllStaff corps was Andrew Guardino, who struck two in his perfect inning. Closer Steele Eaves could not earn a save, but he did strike out two to wrap up the shutout.

On the night, the six ’Sters pitchers allowed 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 14. Foresters pitching has allowed a single run in 21 innings so far in Wichita.

Meanwhile, in the sixth inning, the Foresters doubled their lead. Clark reached on a one-out bunt single, moved to second on a balk, and then stole third. A wild pitch brought him home to make it 3-0. After Terrence Kiel II walked and stole second, Farr continued his amazing game with a run-scoring double (his second two-bagger of the game to go with the earlier homer), this one a line drive into the right field corner. 

Clark was in the middle of another run in the eighth. His high, slicing pop to deep left landed fair and he wound up on third with a triple. Kiel then smacked a sac fly to deep right to make it 5-0. 

Spread the word, fans, and tune in Thursday at 10 AM Santa Barbara time via our YouTube Channel to listen. You can also watch the action on the NBC World Series YouTube channel. From now on, every game is win-or-go-home . . . so the Foresters need your support!