Forester Jeff McNeil leaps over the tag attempt by the Barons catcher to score the Forester first run in the third inning. (Photo by Vince Agapito)
An excellent pitching performance from Austin Dicharry and a game-winning RBI single from Derek Legg was just enough for the Santa Barbara Foresters in their 2-1 victory over the MLB Urban Youth Academy Barons on Tuesday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The victory keeps Santa Barbara in a tie for first place with the San Luis Obispo Blues in the California Collegiate League.
Dicharry (Texas) threw for seven innings and struck out eight batters while giving up just one run and two hits. He had a shaky start to the game and gave up a triple to Barons’ lead-off man Arby Fields (Northwestern), who has built a reputation as one of the premier base-runners in the CCL.
Foresters starting pitcher Austin Dicharry threw a solid seven innings to pick up the win on Tuesday. (Photo by Vince Agapito)
“Everything is coming together really well, and our defense is playing outstanding,” Dicharry said. “I think it’s all starting to click.”
The praise the defense received from their starting pitcher was well deserved. With little margin for error in such a close game, the Foresters defense had no errors, while the Barons commited one.
In the third inning, Jeff McVaney (Texas State) caught a deep fly ball in right field, and fired a laser to catcher Jared Womack (Oklahoma State) to foil Fields’s attempt to score after tagging up on third.
James Wharton (CSU Los Angeles) and Legg (CSU Fullerton) each had excellent defensive days at first base and third base, respectively. The Barons sent several screamers down to the corners, but nothing got past the Foresters’ infielders.
Legg continued his stellar summer at the plate by going 3 for 4. In the sixth inning, he hit his second single of the game to bring Michael Ratterree (Rice) home for what would end up being the game-winning run.
“It’s easy to hit when your teammates get on base,” Legg said. “I feel like every time I get up, we got guys on base.”
Barons’ starting pitcher Patrick Smith had a solid performance and pitched seven innings while giving up two runs on seven hits. He struck out five Foresters, but was overshadowed by the Santa Barbara pitchers.
TJ McGreevy (Wichita State) was brought in to protect the slim lead and was untouchable, throwing two perfect innings to earn his second save of the season.
“He is a blue-collar guy,” Foresters head coach Bill Pintard said about his reliever. “There’s no chrome on that guy. He’s go-right-after-them, and just gets 0-2 to everybody.”
The Barons (9-25 overall, 9-24 CCL) head back home to Compton to take on the Orange County Pioneers.
The Foresters (33-11 overall, 21-10 CCL) stay at home to play a non-league game against the California Wahoos Wednesday at 5 p.m..
All Forester games are broadcast on AM 990 KTMS and www.sbforesters.org.
GAME NOTES: Sonya Urzua threw out the first pitch at Tuesday. Sonya, a student at San Marcos High, is recovering from cancer and is part of the Foresters’ Hugs for Cubs program … Both Arby Fields and Jeff McVaney were Division I tailbacks on their school’s football teams… Fields is 23 for 23 on stolen base attempts… The Foresters did not allow a base runner in the final four innings, and retired the last 14 Barons batters to end the game.
