The injury bug is biting the SBCC baseball team already.
Coach Teddy Warrecker said that six players have gone down with injury in the past week, and one in particular made a big impact in Friday’s Bash at the Beach games at Pershing Park.
Ex-Santa Barbara High star Zack Chavez hit a homer in the morning’s 8-4 win over Ventura, but then suffered an injury at a key moment in the afternoon’s 7-1 loss to Cerro Coso.
Chavez was headed home from first on an Aaron Bauman double early in the game, but pulled up with a pulled hamstring and had to leave the game. Instead of having a 2-1 lead, SBCC (2-1) stayed in a 1-1 tie and the Coyotes went on to score three runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Big Blake McFarland got the start against Ventura and gave up three earned runs on four hits in five-plus innings. Steven Keller had a pair of doubles in the game and Rorry Nakayama also had a doube to go with Chavez’s home run.
Joe McGrew, who like McFarland stands at 6-foot-6, was the Vaquero starter against Cerro Coso striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits. His pitch count was up over 100 in the sixth when he walked in a run to put the Coyotes up 2-1, so Warrecker pulled him.
The move didn’t help much, as two more runs were scored in the inning and three more came home in the seventh.
Despite the injuries, Warrecker realizes that it is only January (who plays baseball in January anyway?).
“We definitely have not played our best baseball, which is expected early in the season, but we’re going to work like crazy,” he said. “I’ve been doing this long enough now to know not to panic.”
CERRO COSO 7, SBCC 1
Cerro Coso…010 003 300 – 7 9 1
SBCC………….100 000 000 – 1 4 3
SB: McGrew, Peters (6), Caraccioli (7), Gardner (8), Coonen (9).
2B – SB: Bauman.
SBCC 8, VENTURA 4
Ventura….000 103 000 – 4 4 1
SBCC…….001 320 20X – 8 8 1
V: Walters, #25 (5), #17 (6), #29 (7). SB: McFarland, Edgington (6), Pellici (9).
2B – V: Garcia, SB: Keller 2, Nakayama. HR – SB: Chavez (3rd inning, solo).
