The baseball team ends their fall season with the Forester Classic.

By Ryan Walker, Staff Writer

When the leaves start to change color and the temperatures drop, this signifies the end of fall baseball at Huntington University. Daily practices end, Saturday scrimmages come to a close, and indoor work begins. But before we head inside for the winter, the baseball team has a unique tradition that puts a cap to the end of the Fall. That tradition is the Forester Classic.

What is the Forester Classic?

The Forester Classic is best described as a World Series scrimmage at HU. The series consists of a best of five between two teams that are picked straight from the roster. The teams are selected one-by-one from two senior captains (Eli Knust and Alex McCutcheon) in a draft style format.

After the teams have been selected, the captains of the team create a powerpoint of the drafted teams, adding funny pictures of each individual player. For example, a player may have had a photo on their Facebook profile from when they were young or an embarrassing photo somebody tagged them in. Those photos are put into the slideshow and presented by the captains for a night of laughs

During the series, coaches refrain from instruction, as it’s supposed to be a fun week for the players to compete against one another. And if you’re wondering if it’s competitive, you bet it is. Players from the winning team get a nice dinner at a later event during the year, and the losing team has to serve that dinner to the winners.

The Rosters

Team Eli Knust

Pitchers– Gabe Freeman, Riley McMahon, Noah Arbuckle

Catchers– Eli Knust, Kallen Kelsheimer

Infielders- Daniel Lichty, Satchell Wilson, Noah Comstock, Dawson Butcher, Grant Dexter

Outfielders– Nick Davit,

Utility– James Bowen (P, INF), Iggy First (INF, OF).

Team Alex McCutcheon

Pitchers– Alex McCutcheon, Joey Butz, Brent Turner, Isaac Horton, Max Meisner

Infielders– Gustavo Bonilla, Langston Ginder, Jarret Gray, Ethan Hoenie, Jackson Wood

Outfielders- Ian McCutcheon, Ryan Hale

Utility– Max Moser (IF/ OF)

A Different Look This Season

Due to a smaller number of pitchers, the coaches decided to make this year’s Forester Classic a single nine-inning game. The game will take place on Thursday, October 15, at Forest Glen Park at 4:30.

Another difference this season is the spectators. Fans, students, parents, and anyone wanting to watch the game will have to watch from the top of the hill by the baseball field. These rules are placed in by the university to keep the baseball team and others safe due to COVID-19.Typically, since the series is towards the end of the Fall, the temperatures are bitter cold. But the forecast looks to be around the 50s, and the competition will overtake that when the first pitch is thrown.

The Game

The game ended up being very competitive, as both dugouts were respectively chirping towards each other in good fun. Team Eli Knust and the grey team won the game 7-3. Satchell Wilson had a bases-loaded double late in the late stages of the game to put the grey team on top, ultimately solidifying the game. Wilson was one of the most outstanding players of the game as he went 3-4 with a walk and 3 rbi’s.

Team Knust started the game with a small ball and took that strategy throughout the game, bunting in a run and getting on base on those bunts. They had multiple stolen bases that proved to be a key factor in winning the game, constantly keeping pressure on Alex McCtucheon’s green squad. 

Noah Arbuckle was the pitcher to highlight, as the freshman threw the last 4 1/3 innings of the game and shut the green team down with no runs.

Pitchers seemed to have dominated in all sorts of ways, as the relief pitcher, Brent Turner, scored on a single from second base after his walk. Isaac Horton, freshman pitcher, went 2-3 with 3 singles in the game, which is a perfect example of why the Forester Classic is a fun Forester tradition every year.