Oliver, two others help team get title

Three players with local ties helped the Santa Barbara Foresters win the National Baseball Congress World Series, completed Friday in Wichita, Kan.

Former Orange Coast College standout Eric Oliver, who started at first base for UC Santa Barbara as a junior in 2008, batted cleanup and played first base for the Foresters, who defeated the Seattle Studs, 2-0, in the NBC World Series title game.

Oliver who went one for four in the title game, hit .361 in 108 regular-season at-bats for the Foresters, who won the California Collegiate League and finished 32-16. He had three home runs and 28 runs batted in during the regular season and he posted a .565 slugging percentage.

He finished fourth in league MVP voting and was named the all-league first baseman for the Foresters. He also was voted to have the best strike-zone judgment in the league and was voted the best defensive first baseman.

Vinnie St. John, a two-time All-Newport-Mesa performer at Corona del Mar High, who hit .208 in 23 games as a freshman last season at USC, played outfield for the Foresters. He hit .310 in 87 regular-season at-bats and produced five homers and 21 RBIs. With five doubles and two triples, his .586 slugging percentage ranked second in the league.

Crosby Slaught, a freshman pitcher at UC Irvine last season, was also a member of the Foresters. His statistics were not available and UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said he did not pitch in the team’s seven games at the NBC World Series.

Locals also dotted the rosters of the Alaska League’s Peninsula Oilers and Anchorage Glacier Pilots, both of whom reached the NBC World Series quarterfinals.

UC Irvine catcher Francis Larson was a second-team all-star for the Oilers, for whom former OCC All-Orange Empire Conference left-hander Brandon Dixon posted a 1.90 earned-run average in 47 1/3 innings.

Tony Asaro, drafted in the 47th round after hitting four homers and driving in 21 runs as a junior outfielder and designated hitter at UCI last season, was an outfielder for the Glacier Pilots.

— Barry Faulkner