A six-run cushion provided early comfort for the Santa Barbara Foresters Friday as they defeated the Urban Baseball Academy Barons 6-2 in day two of the Rawlings California Cup Tournament. The win automatically qualified Santa Barbara for Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game.
“We like getting money in our wallet early. To get ahead is very, very big,” Foresters manager Bill Pintard said.
Starting pitcher Jesse Meaux was especially appreciative of the early cash flow.
“[The run support] helps a lot because you don’t have to worry about getting every hitter out. If they score a run, no big deal. It’s easier to pitch under those conditions,” Meaux said.
Meaux pitched seven solid innings of baseball, dealing eight strikeouts and surrendering only one unearned run. A student-athlete from UCSB, Meaux has been drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and earlier this summer played in the Cape Cod League, giving him a sneak-peek at baseball outside of Southern California.
“Jesse Meaux was outstanding. He got himself in a couple jams but he got himself out of the jams,” Pintard said. “His slider looked really good. That pitch has really improved.”
The six Foresters runs were only manufactured during two innings, the first and the second. Two runs came across in the bottom of the first inning while the other four hurried home in the second. Despite his intimidating appearance, 6-foot-7, 215-pound Barons starting pitcher Daxton Sanchez was no serious threat to the Foresters lineup. Sanchez only faced 10 Santa Barbara batters before he was pulled and replaced with Bryan Smith. But the damage was already done – Sanchez had dropped the Barons into a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
Right fielder Nick Melino, who was put aboard after being hit by a pitch, scored the game’s first run off a sacrifice fly hit by first baseman Walker Moore. Santa Barbara combined for six hits during the first two innings, including a double by left fielder Jeff McVaney.
The bats were relatively silent after the second as the team only rallied for an additional four hits.
“When we get a lead it enables us to do more things–we can run more, we can hit-and- run more, we can gamble more,” Pintard said.
With two wins under their tournament belt, the Foresters look ahead to the East L.A. Dodgers.
“[East L.A.] is scrappy. I like our match-up against them,” Pintard said. “We’re probably going to throw our whole pitching staff at them.”
The winner of the Rawlings California Cup Tournament earns an automatic bid to the National Baseball Congress World Series in Witchita, KS.
“Right now we put a lot of emphasis on going to Wichita, it’s an important thing for us,” Pintard said. “But we haven’t won anything yet. We’ve won two games in this tournament, and we’ve got to win four.”
