Austen Williams shined in his debut for the Santa Barbara Foresters, throwing six innings and striking out eight to earn the win as the Foresters cruised past the Santa Paula Halos, 9-1. Williams made one mistake all game, giving up a solo homerun to Halo first baseman Taylor Kahanowitch in the fifth inning.
The solo shot would be the only Halo hit of the game, as Williams and Patrick Weigel combined to throw a one-hitter. Weigel entered in the seventh, and pitched a nearly flawless three innings of work. In his second apperance of the season, the right-hander from Pacific struck out five and a hit batter stood as the only blemish on an otherwise perfect outing.
With the win, the Foresters moved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the California Colligiate League in the 2013 season.
Ben Johnson opened the scoring for the Foresters in the fourth inning, drilling a homerun over the center field fence with one on to make it a 2-0 run. The homer was the first of the year for the Foresters, whose hitting has been light at times early in the year. The homerun was the highlight of the day for Johnson, who finished 2-for-6 but also struck out swinging three times.
Keaton Jones added another run for the Foresters, driving in Shane Rowland on a double in the fifth inning. Jones drove in Rowland again, this time with a single, in the seventh inning. Jones finished 2-for-3, walking twice and driving in two runs. Rowland reached base all five at-bats, walking for times and hitting a double while scoring three times on the day.
The game became completely out of reach in the ninth, as the Foresters tacked on another four runs after Halo designated hitter Allen Gwynn entered the game to pitch. Gwynn walked three, gave up two hits as the four runs came home for Santa Barbara.
