By Sasha Duda
A tight game broke open with back-to-back five-run innings, forcing the Foresters to dig down and come up with a walk-off miracle, edging the OC Riptide 9-8 in a wild one at Eddie Mathews Field. The game was the first of a five-game homestand and followed an evening to forget when the Ster Bus couldn’t make it to Tuesday night’s scheduled game at OC. (A makeup date is TBD.) Happy at home, Santa Barbara saw an early lead disappear, then reappear, then vanish again, only to thrill the home faithful with ninth-inning magic.
Those fans were treated to an explosive first few innings, with both sides taking advantage of mistakes made by the opposing pitching staff.
It looked like early trouble for the ‘Sters in the first, with Riptide capitalizing on a walk and a hit batter to take an early 1-0 lead. That lead was evaporated in the bottom half, where Santa Barbara got the bats going. OC starter Tommy McGuire only lasted a third of an inning, giving up consecutive hits to Terrence Kiel and Easton Moomau, before a trifecta of walks knocked him out of the game and gave the ‘Sters a 2-1 lead.
The lead was extended to 3-1 off reliever Josh Hickey when Caleb Hoover singled home another run, adding to RBI from Cole Chamberlain and Sawyer Farr and the inning ended with SB up 3-1.
’Sters starter Bryce Navarre got into trouble in the third. After walking a pair, he got two outs. Facing centerfielder Reid Montgomery, Navarre quickly got ahead 0-1 on a swing on which Montgomery lost his bat and almost hit ’Sters manager Bill Pintard. Thankfully, Bill was okay, as was the inning, as Navarre struck out the hitter with two on.
Back and forth was the motto early in this game, as the top of the fourth saw OC tie the game at with a pair of runs off of Navarre, before Tyler Phenow came in to put out the fire, inducing an inning-ending double play that went 5-2-3.
The Riptide looked poised to strike again in the fifth, getting a leadoff double from Jonathan Rodriguez, who advanced to third on a wild backpick from Chamberlain. The Foresters catcher immediately made up for it, however, as with the infield drawn in, Easton Rulli threw home on a grounder, where Chamberlain made an incredible pick and tag to get the runner and keep the game tied.
Santa Barbara seems to break the game open with five runs in the eighth, thanks to small ball.. Hoover led off the inning with a double and was pinch-run for by Liam Keithley, who quickly stole third. After Addison Klepsch walked and stole base of his own, Maddox Mandino squared around a squeeze bunt, which let Keithley come charging home, just barely avoiding the tag.
The Foresters added four more—Klepsch on a wild pitch, Brenton Clark scoring Mandino via a sacrifice fly, Farr walking in Kiel, and Moomau scoring on another wild pitch.
Sters reliever Jaden Barfield pitched the seventh and eighth, where he faced the minimum and struck out two. But Orange County would not go lightly in the ninth. Despite being down by five, they rallied to tie it and force the Foresters’ offense to get back to work.
With the score 8-8 and the fans on their feet, the Foresters called on their famous motto: “Two-out hits win championships.” Mandino walked, bringing up Terrence Kiel. Mandino broke for second and continued toward third when Kiel hit a single to right. Mandino just never stopped running and beat the throw to the plate in a cloud of dust. Cue the rumpus!
The Foresters are back at Eddie Mathews tomorrow, in their first of two consecutive games against the San Diego Waves. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 pm, with live radio coverage on the Foresters YouTube channel.
