SAN LUIS OBISPO — Effort has equaled fun for the Santa Barbara Foresters recently, as they kept hustling all the way through Wednesday’s 9-3 victory over the San Luis Obispo Rattlers at Sinsheimer Stadium and got a few laughs along the way. It was the team’s 14th consecutive win, and the 21st in the last 23 games.
Ace pitcher Sam Stafford was put in as a pinch-hitter in the top of the ninth and struck out on four pitches with three giant swings.
“It felt like he was throwing about 102 miles an hour at me,” said Stafford after his first at-bat in two summers as a Forester.
The interesting lineup shuffle also included pitcher Tim Kelley making his debut as an infielder, taking over first base in the eighth inning.
“These guys are playing so hard no matter what the situation in the game. You don’t have to motivate these guys, because they come every day ready to play hard,” said manager Bill Pintard. “We had Sam bat and Tim in the field just because I feel like I have to keep things fun and loose for them.”
A prime example of the effort he was referring to came in the sixth inning, when Rattlers catcher Mitchell Prophet launched a pitch that looked destined to go over the fence in center field for a two-run homer. The Foresters were already up 9-2, but Walker Moore sacrificed his body and leapt up to the top of the wall to bring it back over. He fell hard and wasn’t able to hold onto the it, but he managed to keep it from going for a home run and it was instead a triple.
Nick Melino was the star of the game, going 3-for-5 with a grand slam in the third and a double. Chase Yost and Shane Kroker each had triples, and Kevin Chambers went four innings, giving up six hits and two runs in his first start in a month since going down with an elbow injury.
For the Rattlers, former Santa Barbara High star Mason Radeke, who now pitches for Cal Poly, hurled a scoreless eighth and Dos Pueblos alum Robert Vickers went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Santa Barbara is now 31-7 overall and 21-5 in conference. The series finale against the last-place Rattlers is Thursday at 6 p.m. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 and www.sbforesters.org.
