Santa Barbara Foresters/Hugs For Cubs

Outstanding third inning leads to 12-0 victory

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	June 15, 2011
	By Bryan Cornet
	Santa Barbara, CA - The Foresters came out with a vengeance Wednesday night in their second meeting with the California Wahoos at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. A night earlier, the Foresters struggled to score runs early in the game against a team composed primarily of talented local high school players but came out swinging this time, pouring it on in a 12-0 victory.

	It is difficult to single out one hitting star for the Foresters. The team banged out sixteen hits and, in the bottom of the third inning, had triples by Brett Vertigan, Jeff McVaney, and Derek Legg. “I couldn’t believe it, I don’t recall ever seeing three triples in one inning before,” Legg said after the game. Legg finished the night two for five.

	Vertigan had quite a game of his own, going four for five and was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle. “I swung for the home run there in the eighth, but once I got behind in the count, I just shortened up and went for the hit.” Vertigan had two singles, a double, and a triple. He also had a steal and three runs scored.

	Rice University star Michael Ratterree made a big splash in his season debut with the Foresters. Like Vertigan, he went four for five, getting three singles and belting a deep home run to dead center field. Ratterree’s big game came on the heels of one by new arrival Jeff McVaney a day earlier in which McVaney went three for four with two home runs. “[McVaney] made sure to let me know about that before the game,” Ratterree said. He also explained that the reason for his late arrival was because his car had been broken into while parked outside his apartment back in Houston.

	The Foresters also got offensive support from former Santa Ynez High School and Santa Barbara City College star Chase Yost, who hit a three run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, his second of the year. Yost also made two dazzling plays out in right field.

	The Foresters played solid defense, committing no errors to back up a dominating performance by the pitching staff. In his first start of the summer, Brad Kottman threw a strong four innings. He had seven strikeouts, allowed one hit, and did not give up a single walk. The Foresters bullpen took over in the fifth, and continued their dominance. Cody Evans, Jashon Hursh, Jeff McVaney, Richard Stock, and Ryan Hawthorne combined to strike out six Wahoos, allowing two walks, and only one hit. Evans was credited with the win.

	Manager Bill Pintard was pleased with the team’s effort. “This team is coming together really quick. Everyone is pulling for each other, the chemistry is really good, they are doing everything I’ve asked of them and they are totally responding to it. We just keep rollin.”

	The Foresters improved their overall record to 9-0 and are now 5-0 in the CCL. They will travel to Thousand Oaks today to face a strong CCL opponent in the Conejo Oaks who are 7-3 overall and 3-3 in league. The game can be heard on AM 990.