Legends Drop Slugfest in Series Finale to Foresters
Santa Barbara, Calif. – Summer baseball is known for many things: warm weather, competitive baseball, and a flair for the exciting/crazy/you’ve-never-seen-this-before. All three of those (or is it five?) were on display in Sunday’s series finale between the Menlo Park Legends and the Santa Barbara Foresters. In a nutshell, here are a few important numbers from the game: 26 runs, 29 hits, 6 errors, 16 LOB, 17 walks/HBP, 12 pitchers, 8 homeruns. A broadcaster’s scorebook was littered with changes and colored-in boxes just to get through nine innings of action. In the end, the Foresters were able to pull ahead late and win the final game 16-10 over the Legends. Menlo Park drops to 9-5 overall and Santa Barbara improves to 10-4.
In an effort to try and keep a reader’s mind from wandering, let’s focus on the highlights of the game. The Foresters took an early 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning off of Legends starting pitcher Sean Watkins after three Menlo Park errors. During the frame, Watkins was getting an inconsistent strike zone from the home plate umpire and was disgruntled. When the inning ended, words were exchanged as Watkins walked to the dugout and moments later, he was ejected. The Legends dugout proceeded to empty onto the field and now words were being exchanged with the Foresters. After having a conversation with the home plate umpire, Head Coach David Klein was also tossed from the game. This is just the beginning of the game’s craziness.
Nick Brooks mashed a two-run homerun to deep left-center in the top of the third as the Legends tied the game at 3 all. The Foresters wouldn’t let the Legends hold onto that momentum long as they tagged Menlo Park’s first reliever, Matt Bergandi, for five runs in the bottom of the third including back-t0-back homeruns. Taking an 8-3 lead into the middle portion of the game, it seemed like the Foresters would run away with the game.
But baseball is a funny sport and the Legends weren’t ready to quit. The score would hold until the top of the sixth when the Legends would begin their comeback. RJ Williams doubled home a run, Turner Bishop singled home a run, and Ryan McCarthy hit a sacrifice fly; 8-6 Foresters. Clayton Casey then connected for a two-run homerun for his first of the summer and the Legends had tied the game. Not to be outdone, he was followed by Steven McLean who tucked a fly ball inside the foul pole in left field for back-to-back homeruns and the Legends now had a 9-8 lead.
After both teams traded runs in the seventh, the Legends took a 10-9 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Thin on pitching at this point, the Legends turned to starting pitcher Jacob Wilcox to bring home the victory for Menlo Park. He walked the first batter he faced, and then allowed Lex Kaplan to hit a towering homerun to right field and the Foresters were back in front 11-10. The next batter was Bret Boswell who deposited a baseball into the same spot. 12-10. The next batter was Hunter Williams, who crushed a ball to straightaway centerfield. Three homeruns in a row. 13-10 Santa Barbara. That chased Wilcox from the game and the Foresters were still able to tack on three more runs against the Legends bullpen before ending the game with a 16-10 win and a series sweep.
The Legends returned to the SF Bay Area on Sunday night and will enjoy an off-day on Monday. They return to action at Palo Alto High School on Tuesday with a road game against the Pacific Union Financial Capitalists. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 PM and the game can be heard live on the Legends Radio Network.
