The Santa Barbara Foresters captured an 8-0 mercy-rule victory over the Great Bend Bat Cats on Friday in their NBC World Series opener.
The Foresters, 10-time tournament champions, collected RBIs from seven different players while limiting Great Bend to four hits.
Santa Barbara opened the scoring in the first inning when Chris Newstrom drove in leadoff hitter Carter Rutenbar, who reached base with a single. The Foresters’ defense also made an early impact, as Kurt Ippolito made a diving catch to prevent a run in the opening inning before Sawyer Farr turned a lineout into an inning-ending double play in the second.
The lead grew to 2-0 in the third inning after Brady Janusek led off with a triple and later scored on Rutenbar’s RBI single, giving Rutenbar his second hit of the game.
Starting pitcher Ryan Waldeck kept the Bat Cats off the scoreboard over five innings despite allowing leadoff hitters to reach base on multiple occasions. He surrendered just two hits and struck out five batters.
Reliever Zane Becker helped preserve the shutout in the fifth inning by picking off a runner at first base to escape a scoring threat.
Santa Barbara broke the game open in the sixth, scoring five runs with RBIs from Addison Klepsch, Ippolito, Becker, Janusek and Rutenbar as the Foresters batted through the lineup to build a 7-0 advantage.
Daniel McAulff, a recent addition to the Foresters’ roster from Pittsburgh, made his team debut in relief. He retired the Bat Cats in order during the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Donovan Lasalle, who entered the game after pinch-running for Caleb Hoover, led off with a home run to deep center field. The blast extended the lead to 8-0 and triggered the tournament’s mercy rule, ending the game.
Santa Barbara will return to action Saturday against the BTL Hornets. First pitch is scheduled for 10 p.m. PDT, with the game available via livestream on the NBC World Series YouTube channel.
