By Jacob Govero
With one out, a man on third and his team leading by a run in the top of the seventh, Forsyth starter Caleb Terrell retired the final two batters he faced closing out Hollister 2-1.
Terrell had walked Hollister third baseman Logan Armitage to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then to third on a passed ball. That’s when Terrell, who was nearing a pitch count limit, forced Hollister into two groundouts as they failed to bring the tying run across.
Afterwards Terrell was still excited from the finish.
“It was an adrenaline rush, my arm was starting to get sore, I’m not going to lie but I had to push through it.” He said, “I had to go right at them there, throw strikes and trust my defense behind me, just get a ground ball and that’s the game.”
CLICK HERE FOR FORSYTH VS HOLLISTER PICTURES
Hollister jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Jenner Steele singled to center field. Second baseman Payton Weber followed him with an RBI double to left. A groundout would end the threat for the Tigers in the first.
The Panthers would get to Tiger starter Landon Farquhar in the third inning. Terrell would lead off the inning with a bloop single. The next two batters would be retired before shortstop Tyler Groves bounced a shot off the wall in left field, scoring Terrell and tying the game, 1-1.
Kaleb Etheridge followed and shot a single to left field to drive in Groves to give Forsyth the 2-1 lead.
The two runs Forsyth scored in the third would end up being the only runs they would need. The Panthers improved to 12-5 with the victory as Terrell pitched a complete game for the home team.
Panther head coach Jim Julian, now in his eighth season, was complimentary of each team’s performance.
“It was well pitched on both sides, solid defense on both sides,” Julian said. “These are fun games to be a part of. Caleb made some big pitches when he needed to and our defense came up with some plays.
“We had a double play that was huge for us in the fifth, we just made pitches with runners in scoring position all game.”
Hollister suffered another close defeat dropping to 11-8 overall on the season. Of the Tigers’ eight losses this season, six have been by one run.
Tigers head coach John Burgi knows his team is close.
“We were good defensively, both pitchers threw well but we weren’t able to scratch another one across the plate,” Burgi said. “They made all the plays they needed to and we just didn’t get the big hit.”
The next game for Hollister is Friday at home as they welcome the Strafford Indians to town, weather permitting.
Forsyth is off until next week when it faces three tough opponents. Ava is at Forsyth on Monday, before the Panthers go to Galena on Tuesday and travel to Sparta on Wednesday.
FORSYTH 2, HOLLISTER 1
Hollister – 1000000 – 2 7 2
Forsyth – 002000x – 1 5 0
BATTING
2B- Hollister: Weber, Forsyth: Groves
PITCHING
WP: Caleb Terrell 1R, 7 IP, 7 H, 1 K, 2 BB
LP: Farquhar 2R, 5 IP, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB
