The only loss on Santa Barbara High’s record heading into Tuesday’s game against San Marcos was a big one — the Royals had beaten the Dons for the first time since 2005, 11-5, on March 19th.
Any frustration from that game was taken out on the poor baseball in Tuesday’s game, as the Dons were crushing the thing in a 14-5 revenge victory.
“We came in here wanting to bury them,” said senior first baseman Trey Barrett. “We wanted to get on them right away. We’re used to getting off to slow starts, but today we were just trying to keep pounding them every inning.”
Santa Barbara’s Trey Barrett slides home safely before San Marcos catcher Riley Moore can make the tag in the third inning. (photos by Vince Agapito)
Barrett pounded a three-run homer in the fifth inning that landed on the cement wheelchair ramp about 25 feet past the fence in dead centerfield. Coach Fred Warrecker has seen hundreds of round-trippers in nearly four decades at Eddie Mathews Field, but he said it was up there with the longest he’s ever seen.
“That’s one of the longer ones. He really hit that thing hard,” said Warrecker. “There’s always motivation when we play San Marcos, no matter what. But there was extra motivation today because they beat us badly the first time we played.”
For good measure, lefty Collin Dewell hit a line-drive grand slam in the sixth that made it 14-4. Santa Barbara racked up 13 hits and scored in every inning. All nine starters got a hit, and all nine scored a run.
“Every guy is hitting all throughout the lineup right now,” said Barrett. “Sometimes, you know, we’re too selective and we don’t swing the bat, but once we swing the bat we’re making really good contact.”
They definitely weren’t too selective in the third, grabbing three first-pitch base knocks in a row. Barrett started with a double on the first pitch he saw from Jimmy Brakka. Pepe Gil roped an RBI single on the next pitch and advanced to second on the throw home. Kees t’Sas hit a single on the next pitch to put runners at the corners and Dewell brought Gil home on a groundout.
San Marcos (8-8, 1-3 Channel League) actually had the lead after half an inning. Santa Barbara (13-1-1, 4-1) starter Danny Zandona struck out the first two batters he faced but junior lefty Riley Moore stroked a single to right field and was promptly brought home on a double by Nick Stathopoulos. Moore finished 3-for-3 and was also hit by a pitch. He scored two runs and drove in another. Stathopoulos had a pair of doubles, two runs scored and a walk.
Starter David Kim went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and pitched three-and-a-third innings, allowing nine hits and six runs. Zandona pitched six innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits.
“It was kind of a reverse of what we did to them at our place,” said San Marcos coach Rob Crawford. “Balls found a way to get through, and they did a good job in those clutch situations. We had 10 hits and put runners in scoring position, but we didn’t score. We left 10 runners in scoring position.”
Gil, fresh off a 10-RBI performance in Santa Barbara’s four-game run to the Righetti Tournament title, was 2-for-2 with three RBIs. The Dons scored two runs in each of the first three innings, including a crafty one in the second.
Robert Crawford (son of the San Marcos coach) nabbed a two-out single that put Zandona at third. Crawford then ran to steal second and got stuck in a pickle, allowing Zandona to run home from third. The throw home was not in time, and Crawford ended up safe at second. He then scored on a single by Cameron Gniadek.
Danny Zandona picked up the win for Santa Barbara
“Today, one through nine contributed on their side and you could see that. Even their No. 9 hitter, that kid Crawford, hit one in the gap,” said the elder Crawford with a chuckle.
The rubber match of the series will be on Friday at San Marcos. The Royals will be throwing Stathopoulos, their senior ace, while the Dons will start t’Sas, a sophomore.
SANTA BARBARA 14, SAN MARCOS 5
San Marcos…102 001 1 — 5 10 0
Santa Barbara…222 314 x — 14 13 2
Kim, Brakka (4) and PMoore. Zandona and Feuer. WP — Zandona (6-1), LP — Kim (2-2).
2B — SM: Stathopoulos (2), Reveles. SB: Barrett, Zandona. HR — SB: Barrett (4th inn., 2 on), Dewell (6th inn., grand slam).
