Danny Zandona ran his record to a perfect 4-0 for the Santa Barbara baseball team by hanging on for just long enough in a 9-6 win over Sylmar in the Chatsworth Tournament on Saturday.
Zandona earned the victory by keeping the Dons ahead in the fourth inning despite giving up three runs before getting the first out. The sophomore recovered to close out the inning and left with Santa Barbara up 5-4.
“We knew he was going to go only so far,” said assistant coach Mike Cooney, citing Tuesday’s winning 97-pitch performance as a reason to watch their ace closely.
Rob Crawford recorded his first save in his first pitching appearance of the season. After giving up a run in the sixth, Crawford came back and set down Sylmar’s 3-4-5 hitters on groundball outs in the seventh.
Two players called up from the junior varsity were the most prolific at the plate. Catcher Spencer Fraker and Nick Below both had three hits and two-run doubles.
Collin Dewell and Jack Crummer also had two RBIs apiece while going 2-for-4.
Santa Barbara doesn’t play again until Friday against Lompoc so Cooney was pleased to see the Dons bounce back from an error plagued loss the day before to play free of miscues and be rewarded with the win.
“Baseball is game you can turn around from one day to another,” he said.
SANTA BARBARA 9, SYLMAR 6
Santa Barbara 212 031 0 – 9 13 0
Slymar 001 311 0 – 6 7 1
SB – Zandona, Martin (5), Crawford (6), and Spencer, and Fraker. S – Gallegos, Ramirez (3), Hernandez (7), and Figueroa. WP – Zandona 4-0, LP – Gallegos 0-1. S – Crawford (1). 2B – SB 4 ( Crummer, Fraker, Gniadek, Below) HR – S 1 (Terrazas 4th inning, 2 on). RECORDS – SB 4-4, Sylmar 5-5.
