By Jim Buckley:
Nick Nastrini hit 98 mph on the radar gun and the Foresters put up a dozen runs to support him and the pitching staff as Santa Barbara beat the San Francisco Seals 12-0 Saturday night. Nastrini won his third game of the summer and had eight of the team’s 17 strikeouts, while allowing only a hit and a walk. He was watched not only by one of the biggest crowds of the summer, but by a dozen Major League scouts, radar guns at the ready, in advance of the July 11 MLB Draft.
Nastrini put on quite a show, hitting his spots and keeping Seals hitters off-balance with a terrific breaking pitch. He struck out four straight starting in the third and put up a Kiwanis Club K on six of his last seven batters. Carson Lambert, Scott Ellis, Ian Churchhill (a two-year ’Ster making his 2021 debut), and Nick Proctor finished up, allowing only two hits in four innings.
As for the offense, it seemed like everyone in the lineup contributed. Seven of the nine starters had hits, eight different players scored, and seven players each had a single RBI.
The Foresters got the scoring started in the second inning. Tanner O’Tremba led off with a double, one of his three hits on the evening. Jack Reidel then singled, and O’Tremba scored a moment later on a passed ball. After Jashia Morrissey reached on a fielder’s choice, Reidel scored on an Andrew Kachel single, one of his two hits.
Morrissey blasted a first-pitch homer to open the fourth, his first longball of the summer. Santa Barbara then added a pair in the fifth. Ryan Wrobleski opened with a double. He was singled in by O’Tremba, who ended up on third a moment later after a wild pickoff attempt. A wild pitch brought him home to make it 7-0 Sters.
Josh Stinson opened the sixth with a hustle double when the outfield was slow to retrieve his short fly to center. As Ethan Bates then took ball four, the pitch eluded the catcher. Stinson, running on the pitch, nearly electrified a big Pershing crowd by almost scoring all the way from second, but he was just nipped at the plate. Wrobleski then doubled to score Bates. After Nate Rombach walked, O’Tremba singled again. Both runners scored when the throw from right field trying to nab Rombach sailed into the bullpen.
A bases-loaded walk to pinch-hitter Steven Zobac and a balk on the Seals’ pitcher accounted for the final two runs in the eighth.
The Foresters wrap up their homestand with a Sunday game at 2 pm, on the Fourth of July. “After missing the big crowd on the Fourth last year, it’s going to be such a thrill play in front of our fans,” said manager Bill Pintard. “The Fourth here at Pershing is a tradition that predates our coming to play full-time here. We have played games here for more than 15 years. We’re looking forward to a great day on America’s birthday with America’s national pastime.”
If you can’t be at the game, listen to AM 1290 KZSB as you celebrate with family and friends.
