Forest Hill Walks Off Over Lake Worth

The game between the visiting Lake Worth Trojans and the home team Forest Hill Falcons started on a cold night but ended with a hot finish. Joshua Katinger delivered a walk-off hit as the Falcons won 4-3 in the season-opening City Classic tournament.

The bottom of the seventh began with Max Howard leading off with a triple down the left field line. Katinger was next up to the plate and he proceeded to lace a solid single to the outfield for the winning hit and RBI. The game that started out so cold had suddenly ended with fiery celebration by the home team.

Falcons Manager Russ Milliken was pleased with the effort and said he was sure that Joshua would be able to handle the pressure of the situation. Joshua Katinger said that he was a little more relaxed when at the plate with the game on the line because his best friend, Max Howard, was on third base.

“I told Max before the last inning, ‘You get on and I’ll bring you in my friend’,” Katinger said.

Johnathan Rodriguez started on the hill for the visiting Trojans and went through the first inning 1-2-3 with two ground outs and a strikeout.

The second inning started out with another strikeout and ground out, but then things got more interesting when Falcon designated hitter Kevin Manzanet singled to right center field. Jorge Hernando followed with a double to right center and Manzanet came around to score the first run of the game.

Meanwhile, Brad Hammel started for The Falcons and also went 1-2-3 in the first inning and then walked the lead off batter, Angel Diaz, for the visiting Trojans. Diaz moved to second on a passed ball and then on to third base on a wild pitch.. Ken Ontero then doubled him home to tie the game at 1-1.

There it goes…

The third inning for The Falcons started with two quick outs, but then Max Howard reached on a passed ball following a strikeout, and Josh Katinger reached on an error. Kylan Barnett proceeded to double them both home for a 3-1 lead for the home team. Alex Garces walked but then the inning ended with a strikeout with the two runners left on base.

The game settled in at that score for a brief time, but then in the fifth inning the visiting Trojans put two more runs on the scoreboard to tie up the game. Joseph Pagan singled to right, then, after a strikeout and a groundout, Luis Ramos put down a perfect safety-squeeze to score Pagan from third. Ramos beat the throw to first and was moved along to second after Nelson Velazquez reached on an infield throwing error that scored Ramos. After this the game moved along tied with both teams trying to put a rally together but not quite being able to take advantage of each others minor mistakes.

In the seventh inning Tyler Vandersande hit a ball that everyone at the park was sure was going to fall in for a base hit. But Max Howard got a great jump on the ball in center and proceeded to make what became a potential game-saving catch for the first out of the frame. Carlos Baez was on the hill for the Falcons and surely tipped his hat to his teammate for the play of the night. Baez proceeded to give up a single to the Trojans Omar Reyes, but got a strikeout and a fly out to right to set the stage for his offense.

Trojans manager B. J. Gilbert said after the game that it’s always a great game and rivalry between his Trojans and the Falcons. He credited Russ Milliken with a great job with the program and was pleased with the effort by his team.

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