By Jalen Kang
The Foresters kept riding the wave in a non-CCL matchup vs. the California Halos on Tuesday night, winning their seventh straight game 4-3 in walk-off fashion. The pitching staff, led by starter Jackson Cloud, turned in a dominant performance on the mound, combining for 18 strikeouts.
Despite the no-decision, Cloud was locked in today, attacking the zone with all four pitchers while taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He had 10 strikeouts through 3.2 innings and finished with a final line of 5.1 IP, 11 K’s, 3 hits, a walk, and 2 earned runs.
“I think the key was that everything was feeling good. I was able to do well with my command and throw pretty much all my pitches for a strike. I had one batter get away from me and ended up walking him but other than that everything was good,” said Cloud.
Ty Zahradnik racked up 3 K’s in 1.2 innings of relief, Ty Baker had 1, and Reid Hensley (W) fanned 3.
The ’Sters (14-5, 12-5 CCL) led 3-2 before the Halos pushed across a run in the eighth inning to tie the contest at 3-3. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the crowd at Eddie Mathews Field rose to its feet with anticipation.
Jonah Sebring smacked a lead-off double, and the winning run was aboard. After Sebring successfully stole third, Jesse Di Maggio and Jonny Rodriguez were intentionally walked to load the bases for Jackson Freeman.
“When you get intentionally walked, you’re definitely rooting for the guy behind you to step up,” said Di Maggio.
That’s just what Freeman did. After seeing ball one and ball two, Freeman wore a hit by pitch to bring home Sebring and send the fans home happy.
Down 2-1 in the seventh inning, the ’Sters executed some beautiful small ball to put pressure on the Halos, forcing their defense to make mistakes that allowed them to take the lead. Bullpen catcher Cooper Carter got his opportunity to contribute in the starting lineup and kicked off the seventh-inning rally with a leadoff walk.
“We just hate to lose. We love winning, but mainly just hate losing. With how close our team is it’s easy to play together in close games,” said Carter.
Nolan Souza followed it up with a single, and with runners on first and second, Jack Bollengier laid down a perfect drag bunt. With no time to get the speedy Bollengier at first, the Halos third basemen tried to get the force out at third but overthrew the bag allowing the runner to score to tie the game. The next batter, Sebring got the job done with a sacrifice fly to score Souza.
The red-hot ’Sters look to keep rolling along when they travel to San Luis Obispo to take on the SLO Blues at 6 p.m. To follow along on the audio broadcast, visit our YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@SantaBarbaraForesters19.
