Jeff McVaney was undoubtedly the strongest player on the 2010 Santa Barbara Foresters, but it took him 55 games to hit a home run.
He hit two in two at-bats on his debut on Tuesday, as the Texas State outfielder/pitcher drove in four runs and also added a double as Santa Barbara moved to 8-0 on the season with a 7-2 over the California Wahoos at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
“I wasn’t thinking about that heading into the game, but it definitely crossed my mind after I hit the first one,” said McVaney, who was also a scholarship fullback for the Bobcats before focusing on just baseball this year.
The Wahoos, laden with local prep stars, got some nice defensive plays out of recent Dos Pueblos graduate Steven Reveles at second base, and Santa Barbara High’s Cameron Gniadek reached twice on Forester errors along with a walk.
Nipomo High senior Ryan McNeil got the start for the visitors and pitched three scoreless innings, facing his older brother — Foresters second baseman Jeff McNeil of Cal State Long Beach — twice in the game. The elder McNeil went -for-2 against his brother.
“I wasn’t rooting for him, because our team needed a win,” said a smiling Jeff McNeil, who added that he was proud of how well his brother did.
The Wahoos took a 1-0 lead in the first after Cole Holloway drove in Kyle Raubinger on a single. Santa Barbara responded in the fourth when McVaney, who would later score on a wild pitch, doubled home James Wharton and Shane Kroker. Kroker scored on a Nick Melino double to make it 4-1.
Gniadek walked with the bases loaded as California got a run back in the sixth, but McVaney crushed a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to put the Foresters up 5-2. He hit a two-run shot in the eighth to complete the scoring.
The Foresters host the Wahoos once again on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
boring. what happened to the article on the san marcos baseball coach being fired? now that was a hot topic of conversation.