Light rain wouldn’t put a damper on the Santa Barbara Foresters’ offense in the early season, as they put up eight runs for the second straight day against the San Diego Waves. It was nearly another shutout, as well, until the Waves got one across the plate in the ninth to get on the scoreboard.
Oklahoma State’s Ian McCarthy got out of a jam in the first inning and dominated from that point forward, striking out seven and allowing three hits through five innings. He joined the Foresters late in the season last summer for the NBC World Series, but is happy to be on the mound from the get-go this year.
“I’m absolutely happy to be here from the start this year. I didn’t get a chance to pitch too much (at Oklahoma State) this year, so I’m excited to come out here and get better every day while trying to get some wins,” he said.
He was relieved by Stephen Johnson, a righty from St. Edwards University in Austin, TX. Johnson dazzled the crowd with his velocity, throwing 94 mph consistently through two scoreless innings. Foresters manager Bill Pintard grinned widely when asked how he found out about such a pitcher from a tiny college in Texas.
“The Forester Nation runs deep and wide. Their coach is a friend of mine, and he told me he had a guy for us. He had a guy, alright,” said Pintard.
Eight Foresters drove in runs, including Cate School alum Robby Massar, who had a double, and UCSB’s Mark Haddow, who hit a first-inning triple as one of his two hits. Recent San Marcos graduate Riley Moore was behind the plate and finished with a double and an RBI, as did James Wharton.
Shane Kroker, last season’s starting shortstop, made his Foresters’ debut at first base and had a hit with a sacrifice fly while making some solid defensive plays.
“Shane was great over there, and he’s going to be over there some more, to his chagrin,” said Pintard. “I think we’re getting really good leadership. Having Kroker and James back has helped these guys along so that they’re playing the way we want them to play really early. It’s great to see.”
Santa Barbara (2-0) will go for a sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on AM 990 KTMS as well as sbforesters.org.
