Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose . . . and sometimes you do both. On Saturday, the Foresters lost to the Conejo Oaks, 4-2, but through the third tiebreaker, earned the South Bracket title and advanced to Sunday’s championship game of the Rawlings California Cup. First pitch is Sunday, July 5 at 2 pm at UCSB.
The Foresters fell behind early 3-0 as Conejo managed three runs off starter Glenn Otto in the bottom of the second. First baseman Corey Pool led off the inning with a line drive base hit to left and came around to score on a base hit by Thomas Rowan. The Oaks tacked on two more that inning via a double from Justin Cana that scored Ramsey Abushala and Rowan.
Pitcher Jackson Simonsgaard came in to start the second inning and was terrific for the visiting Oaks, limiting the red-hot Foresters to just four hits across six shutout innings. Santa Barbara scored two runs off relief pitchers and those proved to be crucial. The pair of runs scored by the Sters (and allowed by the Oaks) tied the two teams in runs allowed during the three games of the tournament. That was tiebreaker number two, since the Oaks, Sters, and Pirates were all 2-1. The third tiebreaker was total runs scored, and since the Foresters’ 29 easily outpaced the Oaks’ 17, the Foresters were the overall winners.
The Foresters’ record now moves to 22-4 as they find themselves in position to take home the Rawlings Cup title. The Foresters will face off against the Santa Paula Halos in tomorrow’s championship game held at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 2 P.M.
