On paper, Danny Zandona’s pitching line wasn’t going to amaze anyone.
But according to coach Fred Warrecker, it was one of the best games he’s ever seen pitched at Santa Barbara High.
Considering Warrecker’s seen over three decades worth of Dons baseball, Zandona’s performance was pretty impressive.
The sophomore right-hander was in total control against Righetti (1-1) on Thursday, throwing a complete game on the mound while going three for three at the dish, leading the Dons (1-1) to a 5-3 victory in their home opener.
“He was absolutely dominating,” Warrecker said. “Three runs doesn’t do justice to what he did.”
Zandona displayed his pinpoint control throughout the game, neglecting to issue a single free pass, while allowing just one earned run on four hits.
The young hurler attacked the strike zone early and often. Of the 29 batters he faced, he threw first-pitch strikes to 24 of them, only missing the plate nine times in the first four innings.
“It was an outstanding performance, especially considering he’s only a sophomore; it was beautiful,” Warrecker said. “He’s gotta really step up this year, and that was a big step forward for him today.”
Santa Barbara got on the board right away in the first. After loading the bases with two outs, Trey Barrett sent a chopper towards Righetti third baseman Danny Rubalcaba, who couldn’t handle the in-between hop as the ball scooted under his glove, allowing two runs to score.
With runners on the corners, Barrett took off early from first, drawing the pitcher’s attention and allowing Nick Below to barely sneak home from third.
“It was huge getting those runs early on,” Zandona said. “I was able to change my approach a little bit and not worry about runners as much when I was going out of the stretch.
“It takes a lot of pressure off you when you’re throwing.”
The Dons displayed a lineup featuring five sophomores, and only one returning varsity starter in second-baseman Jack Crummer.
“We’re a young team, so it was big to come back home and get the win wearing the whites,” Zandona said. “The whites are magic.”
Will Allison, Santa Barbara’s lone senior in the lineup, went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
“A lot of the young guys are real team leaders too and they help out a lot,” Allison said.
But the Dons did show their age at times throughout the game, committing six errors, four on simple infield grounders.
But Zandona was able to keep his composure even with the defensive lapses.
“I try not to let it effect me and just keep pitching to contact to get those plays for my defense,” Zandona said.
The Warriors staged a late rally off of Zandona in the seventh.
With one out, DH Kyle Van Allen singled, and right fielder Chris Coates followed by ripping a ball into the left center field gap, scoring Van Allen. Coates then scored as the next batter, Tommy Kam, reached on a fielding error.
But Zandona would retire the next two batters, stranding Kam and ending the game.
Santa Barbara will travel on Tuesday to take on the San Luis Obispo Tigers, who Warrecker described as a historically solid program.
SANTA BARBARA 5, RIGHETTI 3
Righetti 000 0012 – 3 4 1
Santa Barbara 310 001 X – 5 6 6
R – Davidson and Rae, SB – Zandona and Eaton, WP – Zandona (1-0), LP – Davidson 2B – R: Coates, SB: Zandona, Team Records – R: 1-1, SB: 1-1
