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John Zant: On the Road with the Foresters to Pintard's 500th Win |
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By John Zant
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Tuesday, June 19 2007 |
Foresters update: The club's winning streak ended at 14 games --26 straight going back to last summer -- when the Santa Maria Indians shut down the Foresters 5-2 on Wednesday night.
The Santa Barbara Foresters defied all probabilities when they secured the 500th victory in Bill Pintard's career as their manager Sunday.
By dispatching the San Luis Obispo Rattlers 9-5 at Cuesta College, the Foresters ran their 2007 season record to 13-0 and won for the 25th straight time dating back to last season.
That sort of streak just does not happen in baseball, a game of untimely slumps and unlucky breaks that can put an occasional blot on any team's ledger.
Surely the Foresters would lose one during a six-game road trip that started a week ago. It appeared they were going down at Santa Mara when the Indians took a 5-0 lead, but the Foresters rallied to win 7-5.
The end was certainly looming late Saturday when the Clovis Outlaws had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 8-8. The situation was so dire that Pintard took a desperate gamble. He stationed a fifth infielder over second base and left just two players in the outfield. But the Outlaws could not take advantage. Two strikeouts by relief pitcher Mike Kenney got the Foresters out of the inning.
Chico got another runner to third in the bottom of the 10th, and the Foresters again put on their defensive shift. The runner tried to score on a liner to right center, where Roberto Lopez was playing, and Lopez erased the potential winning run by throwing a strike to catcher Carlos Ramirez. The Foresters won 9-8 in 12 innings. It was Pintard's 499th victory.
"We rolled the dice twice, and it paid off," he said.
After four hours of sleep, the Foresters boarded their bus Sunday morning for the ride from Clovis to San Luis Obispo. With Pintard's wife Kris and daughters Brittney and Kelby in attendance, he managed to win another one.
"Father's Day, 500 wins -- it was beautiful," Pintard said.
His fatherly feelings were especially strong because every time the Foresters take the field, they wear on their caps the number 19 that belonged to Eric Pintard, who both pitched and coached for the team. Bill's son died of cancer three years ago.
With their longest road swing of the summer behind them -- except for the trek to Wichita in August for the National Baseball Congress World Series -- the Foresters returned to action at UCSB's Caesar Uyesaka Stadium against the Blues on Tuesday night. After falling behind 9-0, they rallied to win their 14th consecutive game, 12-9.
The local team has four games at UCSB in the Maxim Best of the West Tournament. The schedule:
Thursday, 4 p.m. -- Sacramento Yankees.
Friday, 12:30 p.m. -- Paso Robles Reds. 4 p.m. -- S.L.O. Rattlers.
Saturday, 12:30 p.m. -- Sacramento Scorch.
The team with the best round-robin record will head to Stanford on Sunday for a playoff against three other teams for the championship.
I accompanied the Foresters last Wednesday on their trip to play the San Luis Obispo Blues, the second stop of their six-game road trip. It gave me an insight into the qualities that make them a persistent force in the desultory world of summer baseball.
2 p.m. -- The 'Sters bus departs promptly from the K-Mart shopping center in Goleta. The club acquired the bus, which belonged to the fleet of the erstwhile Melni Bus Service, three years ago. "Before that, it was car pools and vans," Pintard said. The Foresters lend the vehicle to other non-profit groups. It has gone to Mexico and New Orleans on humanitarian missions.
4:05 p.m. -- The Foresters arrive at the San Luis Obispo Baseball Stadium in Sinsheimer Park. They change into their uniforms in the dugout and jog into the outfield to get loosened up. The Blues are taking batting practice. Over the loudspeakers, "Who Let the Dogs Out" is playing. "Hey," Pintard yells over to the Blues coaches. "That song was retired six years ago."
4:25 p.m. -- The Foresters take batting practice. They are still short a few ballplayers who have not arrived from their colleges, but the roster is shaping up nicely. Slated to start his first game is shortstop Dallas Poulk from North Carolina State. He was a freshman All-American with a batting average of .394. Poulk arrived at LAX the day before. When Pintard greeted him, Poulk was carrying a Channel Islands surfboard. He has ridden the waves of the North Carolina's Outer Banks. Pintard says he's free to try the local surf in his spare time. "Sure he can surf," Pintard says. "I do. It shows he's got cojones."
5:30 p.m. -- Pintard is going over the lineup with his team when Punky Bowman walks up and gives him a hug. Bowman was an All-CIF pitcher at Santa Barbara High over 50 years ago. He is the first cousin of the late Eddie Mathews, the Dons' third baseman who went on to hit 512 home runs en route to the Hall of Fame. Arm trouble short-circuited Bowman's playing career, and he became a baseball scout. He is retired in San Luis Obispo.
6:15 p.m. -- The game begins, and the Foresters immediately jump out to a 1-0 lead. Michael Torres scores the run on a single by Andy Preston. Torres got into scoring position by stealing second base, just beating the catcher's throw with a head-first slide.
6:30 p.m. -- Chris Joyce takes the mound for the Foresters. He just completed his junior year at Dos Pueblos High and now is about to take on a team of college players. Santa Barbara needs him because the pitching staff is still awaiting reinforcements. "He's a baseball rat," pitching coach Tom Myers says of Joyce. "He's got three good pitches. He's up to this." Sure enough, the southpaw retires the side in the first on two fly-balls and a groundout.
8 p.m. -- Joyce is pitching a shutout, and the Foresters break open the game with seven runs in the fourth inning. With four hits, three walks and an error, they methodically move their runners around the bases. Two runs score on sacrifice flies. Jon DeAlba, the SBCC outfielder who's going to UCSB, has two at-bats in the inning. He singles and scores, and then drives another home with a deep fly.
8:45 p.m. -- After retiring the leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth, Joyce leaves the game. He allowed only one hit and struck out four Blues batters. Pintard just does not want to wear out the youngster's arm. He brings Gonzaga pitcher Bobby McEwen, who walks several batters. The Blues score a run off him and leave the bases loaded. Joyce is doused by his teammates in the dugout. He does not seem at all awed by the experience. "Summer baseball is supposed to be fun," he says.
9:10 p.m. -- Santa Barbara's Kenny Williams takes a called third strike and doesn't like it. Pintard admonishes him in the dugout. "Kenny, you don't need to fling your bat," he says. Williams responds, "You're absolutely right, coach. My bad."
9:25 p.m. -- James McCann goes behind the plate for Santa Barbara in the eighth inning. The catcher is another Dos Pueblos junior. It is his 17th birthday. He'll get some friendly swats from the Foresters after the game. It's his last with the team, as he's going to stay with some family in Washington and play in a Connie Mack League there.
9:55 p.m. -- The game finally ends with the score 8-1. The Foresters made the most of their eight hits, all singles. The players gather around Pintard, who praises the pitchers. To Joyce: "You're a great baseball player. I'm proud of you." To McEwen: "Way to come in, Bobby Mac, and fool them into thinking you had no control." Myers, the pitching coach, points out that the Blues' leadoff batters in each inning went 0-for-9 against the Foresters.
10:30 p.m. -- After a postgame meal, the Foresters board the bus for the ride home. They would depart again Thursday afternoon for Santa Maria, and again Friday morning for the weekend trip to Clovis. And they would win, win, win and win again. |
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