Owls Coast to Win in Exhibition Clash

Updated July 14 2017
FOREST CITY, N.C.

After falling to the red-hot HiToms on Thursday night, Forest City (23-11, 4-3) hosted the Catawba Valley Stars in an exhibition contest on Friday evening.

The Stars, out of the Carolina-Virginia summer collegiate wooden bat league, were riding a three game winning streak coming into the game.

The Owls took no mind to the Stars winning streak, taking an early lead and winning the game by six runs.

In the 2nd, Forest City put up a pair of runs against Catawba starter Joe Broderick (Queens College). First, a solo homerun from Alex Conaway (Lander) led off the inning. Later in the frame, Hunter Parker (East Tennessee State) drove in Joel McDaniel (Appalachian State) to make it 2-0.

On the mound, the Owls turned to Tyler McAlister (Missouri State) in what was only his second start of the season.

McAlister cruised through the majority of the night, giving up one earned run on seven hits while fanning eight batters in seven innings of work. 

He finally ran into trouble in the 5th, as an error put Trey Martin (Cleveland State CC) aboard. Next, Andres Perez (Queensborough CC) drove in Martin to cut the deficit in half. Moments later, a passed ball allowed Perez to come in and score, tying the game at 2-2.

The game was not tied for long, as the Owls retook the lead with two more runs in the bottom half of the 5th.

With two outs, Forest City put two men on base before Conaway drove both of them in to put the Owls back on top 4-2.

In the 6th, Forest City padded their lead with a solo homerun by John Bennett (Tusculum) to make the score 5-2.

In the 7th, every Owls batter came to the plate as Forest City put up three additional runs against two Catawba relief pitchers.

Two of the three came in to score on a two RBI single by McDaniel. He went 2-4 with two RBI’s and a run scored on the night.

Next, Bennett drove in the final run of the night for the Owls on an RBI single that brought in Alex Reynolds (Lenoir-Rhyne).

In the 8th, Brandon Dusenberry (East Central) took over on the mound for McAlister. He tossed two scoreless innings, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out three batters.

He helped Forest City cruise through the final few innings en route to an 8-2 victory over the Catawba Valley Stars in the exhibition contest.

“Tyler McAlister gave us a good start, and we played solid defense all-around,” Owls head coach Matt Reed said. “We were able to battle and get going offensively. Hopefully we can keep it going into tomorrow.”

Forest City is back in regular season action tomorrow night as they take on the Lexington County Blowfish in Lexington, South Carolina at 7:05 p.m. You can listen to the game live on the Forest City Owls Radio Network.

To find out more about 2017 Owls Season Tickets, please contact the Owls Office at 828-245-0000 or visit the website at www.forestcitybaseball.com.

The Coastal Plain League is the nation’s premier summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 22nd season in 2018, the CPL features 16 teams playing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL has had over 1,450 alumni drafted and 111 of those – including 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander – make their Major League debut; while another notable alum – Russell Wilson – won Super Bowl XLVIII. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com and follow us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @CPLBaseball..

Contact:

Zachary Penrice

Phone:

828-245-0000