With the first of two games in three days at Whittier College, the Santa Barbara Foresters welcomed the SoCal Catch into the California Collegiate League with a 3-2 victory.
Tejay Antone took the mound for the Foresters Saturday evening with average results. The righty from TCU pitched five innings only giving up one run, but walked four and threw 93 pitches.
Striking first, the Foresters jumped to a 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run in the first inning by shortstop Tyler Krieger. It would be an up and down day for Krieger, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple shy of the cycle, but also committed three errors on the day.
The Catch answered right back against the Foresters, as a line drive to right found its way past Colt Atwood and the Catch’s Connor Smith stood at third with an RBI triple to score Chad Shannon.
Krieger’s second RBI of the day came in the fifth to put the Foresters ahead, hitting a two-out single to score Steven Reveles. Reveles had doubled in Saulyer Saxon earlier in the inning and the Foresters would not relinquish the lead from there.
SoCal added another run thanks to a Tyler Davis home run off of Forester pitcher Jace James to add pressure to Santa Barbara in the eighth. However, Hunter Lemke would close the game down in the ninth as three fly ball outs finished the game.
