The Santa Barbara Riptide 13-under travel team won the Santa Maria Showdown championship
The Santa Barbara Riptide notched their fourth straight tournament title last weekend at the Santa Maria Showdown.
The Riptide, a 13-under travel baseball team, routed the Central Cal Ballers 13-3 in a championship game that was called after five innings on a 10-run mercy rule. The Riptide trailed 3-2 before exploding for 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth.
John Jensen led the offensive, going 3-4 with a single, double and triple and driving in three runs. Carter Soto reached base on all three at bats and Chris Noggle laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to give the momentum back to the Riptide.
Nick Kitzmann pitched all five innings and struck out nine to pick up the victory.
Kevin Gowdy pitched a complete game victory against the Central Valley Diamondbacks to put the Riptide in the final. He scattered seven hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.
Offensively, the Riptide was led by Andrew Rivera, Kyle Vontillow and Kitzmann who all had three hits apiece.
The Riptide opened the tournament with a 26-1 blowout of the Mid-Valley monsters. The team scored 17 runs in the first inning.
Wyatt Vogsland led the onslaught with four hits while driving in six runs. Vogsland also earned the win on the mound. Quinntin Perez added three hits and four RBIs.
The Riptide dropped their second game to the Bakersfield Crusaders, 7-5, and were seeded third for Sunday’s single-elimination playoffs.
The Riptide team is managed by John Jensen and consists of: Luke Coffey, Kevin Gowdy, John Jensen, Nick Kitzmann, Bryce Morison, Chris Noggle, Quinntin Perez, Andrew Rivera, Carter Soto, Wyatt Vogsland, Kyle VonTillow, and Austin Vreeland.
