The Hit Parade Never Ended: Foresters Blast Through Philippines Baseball Group

Batting Practice? 

Nope, just another evening home game for the Santa Barbara Foresters in an 18 - 0 beatdown against the Philippines Baseball Group. 

At Eddie Mathews Field on June 17th, the Foresters unleashed an offensive onslaught, scoring 18 runs on a seemingly endless showcase of walks, doubles, triples, stolen bases, sac flies, and one big homer that made the ball game feel over almost as soon as it started at 4:30 PM. 

Hunter Vincent started on the mound for the Foresters, who made sure the game started perfectly. The right-hander came out firing in the first inning, striking out many Philippina batters and ultimately setting a tone that the PBG would not recover from. 

Then the bats woke up and never went back to sleep. 

Santa Barbara had sent batter after batter in a monstrous second inning. Brady Janusek started the trouble with a walk and a stolen base to second. A pitch hit Makani Nabarro, Joshua Woodworth drew a walk, and suddenly all three bases were loaded. 

Cole Chamberlain was first to cash in with an RBI single. 

Then came Joseph Sandusky. 

This Foresters slugger had launched a rocket into the infield gap for a two-run triple, confidently sliding into third as the crowd and dugout cheered. Before the second inning came to a close, Carter Rutenbar added an RBI double, and Landon Schaefer drove in another run with a solid single, where the Foresters had begun to flip the game on its head. 

But in true Foresters fashion, with runners on first and third in the second inning, they executed a picture-perfect double steal play against the Philippines. Nabarro broke for second base, drawing in a throw from the catcher, while Janusek sprinted home without any tag. It was really aggressive, smart base running, and summed up how Santa Barbara played the entire game. 

After the second inning, the Foresters were not just hitting. They were running wild and drawing in walks. As well as giving the PBG pitching staff a hard challenge at hand. 

By the third inning, Addison Klepsch joined the hit parade with an RBI single. In the fourth inning, Woodworth added an RBI knock before Klepsch lifted a sac fly. 

Every single inning seemed to feature a Forester crossing home plate and happily walking back into the dugout. 

Then came the fifth inning. 

With bases loaded yet again, Klepsch earned an RBI walk before Sanduscky was able to sneak in a two-run double, adding even more damage to an already lopsided scoreboard. 

By this point in the game, keeping track of the runs felt harder than scoring them. Everywhere you looked, someone in maroon was standing on a base, aggressively running. 

Sandusky was collecting RBIs, Chamberlain was reaching base and creating more scoring opportunities, and Klepsch was driving in runs. 

Janusek and Nabarro were turning walks into scoring opportunities with their smart base running. 

Tonight's lineup never gave PBG a chance to battle back successfully. 

And around the seventh inning, when it looked like the Foresters might have been finally done running home to score, they continued to deliver one last exclamation point. 

In the eighth inning, Christian Turner ripped a triple, bringing the Forester's home crowd and dugout into a cheering frenzy. Two batters later, Chamberlain had unloaded on a good pitch from PBG, which towered a two-run homer that had left no doubt it would go beyond the outfield fence. 

It was the perfect ending to an evening that belonged entirely to Santa Barbara from start to finish.

To highlight, the pitching staff quietly put together quite a masterpiece. Hunter Vincent started the game, Carter Speights smartly handled the sixth, and Henry Prindl managed through the seventh. Grady Westphal struck out a pair in the eighth, and Caleb Hoover slammed the door shut in the ninth.

All together, they combined for a dominant shutout of a collective 19 strikeouts and 9 walks. 

By the time the final out had settled into a glove, the Foresters had piled up 18 runs and had delivered one entertaining offensive performance so far at Eddie Mathews Field. The final score read 18 - 0, but it almost felt like it could have been more. 

Catch the Foresters at Eddie Mathews Field tomorrow at 4:30 PM against the San Diego Waves!