Solid pitching saved the day once again for the Santa Barbara Foresters, who came out on top in their first road game of the season Wednesday, defeating the Glendale Angelenos 3-1.
Derek Legg hit a homer and Jeff McNeil was 3-for-3 with a stolen base as Santa Barbara had nine hits.
“We’d like to see more run production out of nine hits, but our pitching continues to be outstanding,” said manager Bill Pintard.
Wichita State righty Mitch Mormann improved to 2-0 on the young season in five innings of work, and was relieved effectively by Kyle Friedrichs. The Long Beach State reliever struck out the side in order in the seventh. TJ McGreevey pitched the eighth and Brandon Pierce picked up the save in the ninth.
Pierce, a Nebraska Cornhusker, issued a leadoff walk but followed it up with two strikeouts and a groundout.
McNeil, a former Nipomo High star, has been a major contributor in his second season with the Foresters (4-0, 2-0 CCL). He made a great tag at second base early in the game before moving to left field, where he was challenged right away with a leaping catch off the fence in the fifth.
“I got a good read on it off the bat. It kind of got lost up there , but I got some help from my centerfielder [Brett Vertigan], who let me know it was gonna be at the warning track.,” said the Long Beach State infielder.
McNeil was not an everyday player last summer, but has shown impressive confidence after a solid season of full-time work in college.
“When you go play a year in college, you grow a lot and gain a lot of confidence. We’re seeing that out of him right now,” said Pintard.
The Angelenos, a new edition to the California Collegiate League this year, scored in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Julian Barzilli that scored third baseman Josh Goosen-Brown.
Santa Barbara’s first run came in the third, when McNeil scored from second on a single from Vertigan that was compounded by a Glendale (0-5, 0-5 CCL) throwing error. Legg made it 2-0 with a leadoff homer in the sixth, and Santa Barbara added a big insurance run with two outs in the top of the ninth as Shane Kroker scored on an RBI single by Blake Brown.
Kroker was on second after a walk and a passed ball, and used heads-up base-running to score on Brown’s infield hit, which was followed by Glendale’s third error of the game.
“That insurance run was huge, and it was a result of Kroker’s base-running,” said Pintard.
The Foresters will play a 3-game series in Las Vegas against Team Vegas beginning Friday, with San Diego State’s Bryan Crabb getting the start.
All games are broadcast on AM 990 KTMS and sbforesters.org.
