The Forsan Buffaloes split weekend tournament series; end with 2 and 2
The Forsan Buffaloes hosted the Forsan Baseball tournament this past weekend, March 19-20. The Buffaloes had to play four games over the twoday span, in what amounts to be the last tune-up games before District play begins. The Buffaloes went 2-2 during the four-game weekend.
The Buffaloes opened up play facing the Idalou Wildcats. Major Stockton took the mound for this first game of the weekend. Stockton breezed through the top half of the first inning, not allowing a single hit as he sat the Wildcats down in order. The Buffs got their first chance in the batters box in the bottom of the first when lead-off man Kevin Kligora had a hard-hit single to Leftfield to get the game started. Next batter Cayden Morgan had a single of his own, placing runners on first and second with nobody out. Unfortunately for the Buffs, they would get three straight outs leaving the inning tied at 0 to 0 after one inning of play.
Stockton went out for his second inning of work; this time, the Idalou Wildcats were able to get to the young pitcher a little more effectively than the first inning; Idalou went on to push four runs across in the second, giving them a 4 to 0 lead heading into the bottom of the second. Forsan couldn't get much going in their half of the second and could not answer Idalou as they did not push across any runs in the inning, leaving the score at 4 to 0 after two innings of play.
As the third inning kicked off, it found Major Stockton back in his grove, shutting down the Wildcats and setting them down to make a quick top of the third. Kevin Kligora opened the inning for the Buffaloes with a walk. Cayden Morgan then smashed a hard-hit single to advance Kligora to third. Forsan then scored their first run when a balk was called on the Idalou pitch allowing the runners to advance, scoring Kligora. Major Stockton then made his way to the plate and delivered a hard-hit single of his own. The Buffaloes would put up two more runs in the inning, cutting the lead down to a single run of 4 to 3 after three innings. The fourth inning was more of Stockton dealing on the mound keeping the Forsan bats off-balance for most of the game; the young pitcher would have another easy inning of work, not allowing
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any runs. Josh Cervantes started off the bottom of the fourth with a lazer tripple hit down the right-field line. Two batters later, Cayden Morgan smoked a double that brought Cervantes across the plate, tying the game up at 4. The Buffs would not score any more runs in the inning, leaving the game all tied up.
The fifth inning found Brandon Valdez coming into relief. Major Stockton had a decent workday; the young Buff gave up 4 runs, 3 earned on only 4 hits. Valdez came in looking sharp as he could get through his first inning of work without giving up any runs on the inning. Forsan then came up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, but despite getting a runner on base, they couldn't find a way to push the run across learning. The game was all tied up at 4 all.
In the top of the sixth inning, it would be Idalou breaking through and putting another run on the board to take a 5 to 4 lead. Forsan bats stalled in the bottom of the sixth, and they went down in order, keeping the score at 5 to 4 after six innings of play.
The final inning of the game saw Idalou breakthrough, and the score of three runs on the inning bring the total lead to 8 to 4. Forsan would continue to battle, getting men on base in their final chance at the plate, but came up short on the day as they lost the game by a final score of 8 to 4.
The next game for the Buffs found them paired with the Stamford Bulldogs. This game would be a high-scoring affair, with the Buffaloes coming out on top by a score of 12 to 8.
Nolan park got the ball to pitch in this game, and he had an easy first inning of work breezing through the Bulldog lineup. The Bulldogs wasted no time in this game as Kevin Kligora started the game off with a double. Cayden Morgan then reached an error. Major Stockton then too reached an error to load the bases with only one out. Brandon Valdez helped his own cause when he had a hard hit single driving in two runs to give the Buffs an early 2 to 0 lead. The Forsan Bufflaoes would not be done in the inning as they scored three more runs having a five-run first inning and setting the tone of the game.
The Buffs went on to add three more runs in the second, one run in the third, and three more in the fourth. Stamford finally broke through and scored four runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Still, it wasn't enough to catch up with the mighty Buffaloes as they would go on to win 12 to 8 in their second game of the tournament.
The third game found them matched back up with Idalou, and once again, the Idalou Wildcats took the victory by a score of 5 to 13.
The final game of the tournament found the Buffaloes taking on the Hawley Bearcats. This would be a close back and forth affair, with the Buffaloes pulling it out when they scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to seal the victory.
The Forsan Buffaloes looked good in the Forsan tournament splitting their 4 games, finishing 2 and 2. These will be the last warm-up games before they kick off district play.