Foresters win first World Series game

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

After battling to a 2-2 tie after nine innings, the Santa Barbara Foresters scored two runs in the tenth to win 4-3 over the Moreno Valley Rockets in their first game of the 2007 National Baseball Congress World Series.
Although it took the defending national champs an extra inning to get the job done, they never trailed in the contest at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan., on Saturday.

In the tenth inning, the Foresters capitalized on right fielder Devin Shepherd’s single to left and a line drive into right field by pinch runner David Hernandez. A stray throw from Rockets right fielder Tyler Losner sailed into the stands, allowing Shepherd to score from third.
Foresters first baseman Rebel Ridling brought Hernandez home with a blooper into left field to provide the two-run lead. In the bottom of the tenth, Foresters closer Mike Kenney battled through two miffed ground balls, one thrown away by shortstop Dallas Poulk and another that hopped off the second base bag into center field, allowing a Rockets runner to score.
Kenney eventually struck out Rockets cleanup hitter Jason Klug to record his ninth save and put the Foresters through to the next round.
Ridling finished 2 for 5, also hitting a RBI triple to the warning track in the sixth to break Chris Koeper’s 10-year-old team record of 51 RBI in a season.
Shepherd drove in the first run of the game with a deep RBI double to left-center in the first inning. Rockets third baseman Sean Lorenz bombed a home run in the fifth to even the score and break Foresters starter Anthony Capra’s four-inning no-hitter.
After Capra allowed two men on base with one out in the sixth inning, the Foresters called in Anthony Encinas, who shut down the rally by striking out Lorenz and forcing Aaron Larsen into grounding out to end the inning.
The results of the game between the Foresters and the Maxim Yankees yesterday evening were not available by press time. With a victory, the Foresters would advance to play the El Dorado Broncos tomorrow.