Photo by Vic Neuman
By Patrick Hunter
The Santa Barbara Foresters lost a nail-biting back-and-forth extra inning battle, falling behind the Arroyo Seco Saints 8-7 in the tenth.
In what was a high scoring affair, the two teams traded runs, inching ahead only to give up the lead shortly after.
The Saints struck first, scoring three quick runs in the top of the third to claim the first lead of the game. Santa Barbara would narrow the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning after Logan Allen brought in Ryan Cash on a fielder’s choice ground out.
The next inning, the ’Sters would move the needle even further, after a hard hit line drive by Conor Davis brought Luke Ritter safely home.
The ’Sters kept the ball rolling, as Ryan Cash cruised home after a wild pitch. Michael Neustifter hit a hard double deep into the outfield, scoring two more runs, putting the ’Sters up 5-3 for their first lead of the game.
The Saints responded to the Forester run in timely fashion, reclaiming the lead in the top of the following inning. They scored four runs in the sixth, building their new lead to 7-5.
Logan Allen stayed on his recent productive tear with a sacrifice fly that brought Conor Davis home to cut the Saints’ lead to one.
The Saints lead held until the bottom of the eighth, where Conor Davis built on what may have been his best day as a ’Ster, drilling a solo home run to tie the game up at 7 apiece.
Nobody would score until the top of the tenth, when the Saints took a one run lead, which the Foresters were finally unable to overcome. They fell to the Saints 8-7 in extras.
Errors hurt both teams, with the ’Sters racking up 5 while the Saints totaled three of their own. The Foresters errors in the field have hurt them in all of their losses, but tonight was especially noticeable.
Catch the ’Sters in action on Friday, July 6, where they will take on the Academy Barons and look to get back to their winning ways.
