Baseball players from all over the nation have already started arriving in town for another summer with seven-time defending California Collegiate League champion Santa Barbara Foresters.
The season opens with a home game against the San Diego Waves on Friday at UCSB’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
“Our expectations are to win our tournament and win our league. If we don’t reach those we’re going to be disappointed,” said manager Bill Pintard. “I think we’re going to have a little more pop than last year, and we’re capable of pitching just as well if not better.”
Matching last year’s pitching would be truly remarkable considering the staff held an ERA of under 2.00 for most of the season, finishing at 2.02 with 12 shutouts in 55 games.
Chris Joyce, in his fourth season with the Foresters, will start in Friday's opener.
The Foresters finished the season at 40-14-1, claiming the CCL title with an 18-6 record in the conference. The year ended in Wichita at the National Baseball Congress World Series, where Santa Barbara fell short of defending its title, finishing in a tie for fifth place after losing a 14-inning heartbreaker to the Liberal Bee Jays on a muggy August night.
Some big pieces from last year’s pitching staff will return this year, including Wichita State ace Tim Kelley, young Texas Longhorns flamethrower Sam Stafford and local product Chris Joyce, back for his fourth year with the team.
Joyce, a Dos Pueblos High graduate who went on to play at UCSB, transferred to Central Arizona College last year and had a dominant season for the Vaqueros, going 11-3 with an ERA of 1.89 and 88 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched. He will be the starter in Friday’s game.
“I’m just excited to be back and have the opportunity to play for the ‘Sters again. The coaching that we have here makes everyone better,” said Joyce.
Other local boys on the preliminary roster are Bryce Uhrig (UCSB), Chase Yost (SBCC) and Crosby Slaught (UC Irvine).
Aside from the pitching staff, reigning team MVP Brandon Loy of the University of Texas will be back to play shortstop while Jeremy Rathjen returns to the outfield. Behind the plate will be two outstanding catchers from last year’s squad, Patric Tolentino of Nebraska and Ryan Hege of Wichita State. James Wharton will be back at first base and second baseman Davis Duren of Oklahoma State is coming off of a big year with the Cowboys, hitting a team-high .377 with 54 RBIs and six homers.
Duren must’ve gone back to Oklahoma State raving about the Foresters, because three of his teammates are expected to suit up for the Foresters — infielders Graham Saiko and Jared Womack as well as Kevin Chambers, a lefty pitcher who can also play first base.
“My coach at Oklahoma State said that this was one of the premiere summer programs in the country, and that it’s a great opportunity to come play here. From what I’ve seen so far, he’s right,” said Saiko, an Indiana native who is in California for the first time.
The Foresters hit .266 as a team last season, and the transition from metal to wood bats was a slow one as always for the players. There were 19 homers over the 55 games, but any power outage was replaced by the team’s notorious base-running. Santa Barbara stole a whopping 136 bases on 162 attempts last year.
Another great storyline for Foresters fans to follow this year will be the transition of third-year player Vinnie St. John, an outfielder for the past two seasons who will move to the pitcher’s mound this year. St. John, who attends USC, has displayed a cannon of an arm in the past, throwing out a runner at first on a ball hit to right field in a game last year. He also pitched an inning and was clocked in the mid-90s.
“Vinnie’s a great project. He’s a guy that wants to learn and he has a great arm. I think he’s gonna be good,” said pitching coach Dan Yokubaitis.
With the MLB Draft ready to begin and the College World Series happening, the Foresters roster will be changing daily for the next couple of weeks. Some players may be drafted and choose to sign with teams to begin their professional careers, while others like Loy are part of powerhouse collegiate programs that could be playing in the CWS in Omaha for as much as three more weeks.
All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST and www.sbforesters.org.
