Coach Bill Pintard’s explanation was as good as anybody’s.
“I think there was a gremlin out there in the six-hole today,” he said after Thursday’s 3-2 Santa Barbara Foresters win over Santa Maria at Elks Field.
Shortstops committed seven of the game’s nine errors, and the first earned run wasn’t scored until the top of the 10th, when local boy Zach Chavez came home from third on a wild pitch.
Chavez was arguably the most valuable offensive player of the game despite not even having an at-bat. He pinch ran for Eric Stephens after a leadoff single and stole second, later scoring on the wild pitch.
“He gives us a dimension, because speed never slumps. Speed kills,” said Pintard.
While Chavez’s brief appearance made the ultimate difference, it was a lights-out performance by pitcher Cody Martin that stole the show.
Martin, a closer by trade (he holds the Gonzaga record for saves in a season), came on in relief of starter Nick Di Napoli with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fourth. He promptly induced a ground ball to Patric Tolentino at third, who started a 5-2-3 double play to get out of the jam with the score tied at 2-2.
He went the distance from there, allowing just one hit and striking out 10, including the side in order in the bottom of the 10th.
“He was a surgeon today. He was carving ‘em up,” said Pintard. “We’re thin on pitching right now, so we have a lot of confidence in him. He’s real good.”
The gremlin haunting the shortstops led to the first four runs of the game, all of which were unearned. Santa Maria’s Jimmy Filter committed three in the first four innings before being pulled for Dave Anderson, who added one more for good measure in the ninth. Foresters (5-1, 2-1 CCL) shortstop Michael Liberto didn’t fare any better, committing three errors in the game.
A total of 18 Foresters past and present were drafted in this year’s MLB Draft. The team is back home at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Friday afternoon with a 5 p.m. matchup against the newly formed So Cal Black Sox.
All games are broadcast on AM 1490 and www.sbforesters.org.
