Santaluces Blanks Forest Hill 11-0 For District Win

Cody Wager goes 3-for-3 on the night with a walk and four RBIs

Behind both a solid offensive and defensive performance, the Santaluces Chiefs beat the Forest Hill Falcons 11-0 in five innings Friday night to open up their district schedule.

The bats were on fire for the Chiefs and they backed it up with solid pitching and defensive play. Starting pitcher Dominic Teresi pitched a complete game, striking out five and only allowing one hit. Three of the five innings he pitched were 1-2-3 innings and he only allowed three base runners on the entire night.

“I felt good on the mound tonight,” Teresi said. “My arm felt nice and no soreness or anything. I didn’t know I was going to pitch until yesterday but I went out there and did what had to be done.”

Offensively, the Lions’ bats came alive as they as they scored at least one run in all five innings, which is something head coach Nick Franco was glad to see after his team’s performance in the Santaluces Slam last week.

“I was very pleased with the way we came out offensively,” Franco said. “We struggled in my tournament last week, and we didn’t hit the ball very well.”

The Chiefs bats got started early on. After Dalton Sragg drew a walk to lead off the game and stole second, Cody Wager hit an RBI double to drive him in. Wager then stole third base and was driven in by a sacrifice fly from Troy Stark. The Chiefs used stolen bases, sacrifices, and hit-and-runs to manufacture some runs early on, something that Franco said was his game plan going into the game.

“We really preach playing small ball.” Franco said. “I think we did that early when we got base runners on. The whole preparation for this week was small ball, moving runners, hit-and-run, bunt for base hit, that kind of stuff”

Coaches and players from both teams meet with the umpires before the game

The “small ball” continued in the second as well. After lead off man Tyler Robichaud drew a walk, catcher Joseph Strzlecki laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Robichaud to second. A walk by Dylan Love and a bunt for a base hit loaded the bases with one out. Robichaud would get thrown out after getting caught in a rundown between third and home but smart base running by Love and Steele gave the Chiefs second and third with two outs. Scragg reached on a throwing error, scoring Love for the third run of the game.

Wager lead off the third inning with a single. After two quick outs, advancing Wager, designated hitter Justin Tworek drew a walk. While Robichaud was at the plate, Wager scored on a wild pitch. The Robichaud connected on the next pitch, driving a double to the outfield and scoring Tworek.

The Chiefs scored another run in the fourth. Once again their leadoff man got on base as Sean Steele got on base with a single. He then proceeded to steal both second and third base before Scragg drew a walk putting runners at the corners with no outs. Wager came up and hit a sacrifice fly driving in the third of his four RBIs on the night.

The biggest offensive output for Santaluces came in the fifth and final inning as they put up five runs. The Chiefs brought ten batters to the plate that inning and it featured RBIs from Scragg, Wager and Teresi.

Wager was the offensive leader on the evening for the Chiefs, going 3-for-3 with a walk and four RBIs.

“I felt well out there tonight,” Wager said. “I was seeing the ball well and I was able to go with the pitches as they were pitched.”

For Forest Hill, their lone hit came in the second inning when Anthony Batista hit a single to center field.

Up next for Santaluces is a game on Wednesday night against Seminole Ridge, while the Falcons travel to Jupiter Christian on Monday.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!