By Ryan Greenberg
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara Foresters’ offense just needed some home cookin’ to get back in stride, and get back in stride they did. The Foresters rattled off twelve runs against the visiting Ventura Pirates at Pershing Park. Wednesday’s game marks a stark contrast from the prior three games in which the Sters scored only four runs. The Foresters will be hoping that this sparkplug of offense opens the floodgates as they enter the final stretch of the regular season.
The Foresters only needed two innings for the entirety of their offensive production, scoring seven runs in the first inning and five in the third. Six Foresters players recorded just one RBI, and one additional Forester stood out among the rest. Rocco Garza-Gongora recorded four RBIs, the only Forester with multiple RBIs.
The entire Foresters pitching staff also got the night off; Coach Bill Pintard made the decision to call upon only position players to pitch. Greg Pace, usually an outfielder . . . but who is quietly developing into a two-way Shohei Ohtani, started the game on the mound for the Foresters. After two shutout innings, Pace was replaced by Daniel Patterson, a third baseman, but who is also no stranger to the pitchers’ mound. After another two shutout innings from Patterson, 1B Garza-Gongora made his pitching debut for the Foresters, contributing with one scoreless inning of his own. OF/C Will Rogers was called upon to succeed Garza-Gongora, allowing the first Pirates run in his Foresters pitching debut.
Zach Bridger pitched the seventh inning for the Foresters in his debut, allowing six runs in one inning of work in a game that was decided to last only seven innings before the first pitch.
The Foresters return home to Pershing Park Thursday at 6:00 p.m. to host the Arroyo Seco Saints. All Foresters games can be heard live on 1290 AM radio; listen online or stream live via the Foresters’ website, www.sbforesters.org.
