DURHAM, N.C. – The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team used a seven-run third inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Jeren Kendall, en route to defeating the Santa Barbara Foresters, 10-6, at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
The two teams will square off again on Wednesday when Team USA travels to Santa Barbara for a 5 p.m. contest at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Red, White and Blue will play a four-inning intrasquad earlier in the day as well, starting at 1:15 p.m.
In Tuesday’s matchup, the talented Team USA offense was on full display as the squad pounded out 17 hits, led by a 4-for-6, two RBI effort by Evan White (Kentucky). Kendall finished 2-for-2 with a sac bunt and an RBI single go along with his longball. KJ Harrison (Oregon State) joined him with three RBIs on the day as well.
A teammate of Kendall’s at Vanderbilt, starting pitcher Kyle Wright fired three shutout innings to earn the win, striking out two while allowing only a pair of hits.
The U.S. jumped ahead early in the contest with a Harrison RBI single getting the scoring started in the second. Kendall then jumpstarted the squad in the third, hammering a first-pitch fastball into the Dodger Stadium bleachers in right to quickly make it a 3-0 game.
Following Kendall’s home run, the next five batters all reached base with a walk and four consecutive singles. By the end of the inning, Team USA would send 12 men to the plate, resulting in seven hits and seven runs.
Trailing 8-0, Santa Barbara was able to mount a bit of a comeback, plating three runs in the fifth and one in both the sixth and seventh to move back within striking distance at 8-5. That would be as close as the Foresters would get though as three straight hits to open the home half of the seventh and a run-scoring double play pushed the U.S. lead back to a comfortable 10-5 advantage.
Prior to the game, both squads were graciously welcomed into Dodger Stadium by team personnel and given guided tours of the historic venue.
QUOTES:
Team USA manager George Horton
(On the experience of coaching Team USA at Dodger Stadium)
“I had a little bit of a tear in my eye. Just reflecting on when George Horton was a little boy, I was sitting in that pavilion watching Sandy Koufax, Willie Davis and Maury Wills, and then the blessings that the Good Lord has given me, to be standing in Dodger Stadium in a USA uniform with America’s finest players and that anthem playing brought tears to my eyes. And then to have my wife, my oldest daughter and my grandkids in the stands made it all the more special on a personal level.”
(On what he saw from the team in its first game together)
“We saw some things that were very good, some terrific at-bats and some pitches that were terrific. But then we have some things we need to fix, especially some of the system things. We missed a few signs and we are a little bit out of rhythm. We have a bunch of good kids who are trying to figure it out in a short amount of time. What does it look like to have a Coach Horton type team? I think we won today on ability alone, but as we continue to prepare for Taiwan, Japan and Cuba, we need to continue to work on becoming a team because we are going to be facing talented teams in all of those places.”
