SANTA MARIA — Gonzaga’s Cody Martin struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night at Elks Field, tying a Santa Barbara Foresters team record with his 11th save of the season in a 6-3 win over the Santa Maria Valley Packers.
Martin is now tied with John Gonzales (2003) and Joey Cutler (2008) with two regular-season games and the NBC World Series in Wichita remaining.
San Marcos High senior Riley Moore started at catcher for the second straight day and had an RBI double, a single, a run scored and a walk. He also threw out two potential base-stealers at second.
“He’s 16 and it’s like he’s as good as any of the guys out here in this league. His upside is through the roof,” said Tim Kelley, who got the start and pitched six innings, striking out 10 while allowing four hits and one earned run.
Kelley allowed a leadoff double and walked two straight batters in the top of the first, but had a meeting at the mound with pitching coach Dan Yokubaitis and struck out the next two to get out of the inning with the bases loaded. The Foresters (38-9, 27-7) had also left the bases loaded in the top of the first, but broke through with a pair of runs in the third. Jeff McNiel led off the inning with a triple and Tyler Marmion drove him in on an RBI single. Marmion was eventually walked in.
Kyle Kubitza finished a homer short of the cycle, and his RBI triple in the seventh drove in Marmion to break a 2-2 tie. Santa Barbara never relinquished the lead after that point.
The California Collegiate League champions host the Packers (23-21, 16-18) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in their final home game of the season. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 and www.sbforesters.org.
