David Harris is a quiet guy, but his bat did a lot of talking on Wednesday.
The Pepperdine Wave went 3-for-4 with a triple, two doubles and four RBIs as the Santa Barbara Foresters played what coach Bill Pintard called their best offensive game of the season, downing the Fontanetti’s Athletics 8-4 at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
“Everyone was really into the game today, and there were a lot of intense at-bats,” said Harris. “There are a lot of great guys getting to know each other on this team and we all get along and play well together.”
Matt Valaika followed up a 2-for-4, two RBI performance on Tuesday with a 2-for-3 outing on Wednesday which included two more RBIs and three runs scored. The Gaucho, drafted by the Cincinnati Reds last week, is now hitting .429 on the season. Harris, meanwhile, is at .455 with a slugging clip of .818 on the season, which is now 11 games old.
The most impressive statistic, however, is the pitching staff’s cumulative ERA of 1.31, which would have been below 1.00 if not for a four-run seventh by the Athletics on Wednesday. Sam Stafford, a redshirt from the University of Texas, has been battling control problems lately but only walked two in the game, pitching six shutout innings and striking out seven.
“It’s great to be able to play defense behind a group of pitchers when they are doing that well,” said Harris.
Casey Yokubaitis came in and struggled in relief of Stafford, but Pintard called it an off-day, saying that Yokubaitis is “a much better pitcher than that.”
The Foresters (9-2) scored three runs in the first inning, as base-running wizard Zach Chavez drew a leadoff walk and Valaika followed with a single. Harris then tripled to right field to drive in Chavez and Valaika. Harris was at third and Ryan Hege at first after a walk with one out. Hege left first base on a steal attempt early and was in a pickle, but Harris meanwhile went home and beat the throw as Hege promptly completed the steal.
Harris doubled in Valaika in the third, and Valaika doubled in two in the fifth before Harris doubled him in again and James Wharton had an RBI single to end the day’s scoring for Santa Barbara.
Control problems got to Yokubaitis in the seventh, but SBCC’s Ryan Gardener came in and cleaned up to end the rally.
The defending national champs are home again on Thursday, as the San Luis Blues pay a visit with first pitch set for 5 p.m. Although it is not a California Collegiate League game, Pintard called it a rivalry.
All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST as well as on sbforesters.org.
