Santa Barbara High’s Kenny Crawford and San Marcos’s Jimmy Brakka each recorded a complete-game effort on the mound on Friday, with Crawford’s Dons topping the Royals 2-1 in a Channel League contest.
Crawford (3-0) picked up the win by throwing seven innings of two-hit ball, which included three strikeouts and no earned runs.
Brakka (0-1) went a full seven innings in his first start of the season.
Zach Torres knocked in the winning run for Santa Barbara in the top of the sixth inning. His two-out single scored Peter Ghersen, who pinch ran for Khalil Pipersburg after a single to left from Pipersburg. Torres and Pipersburg recorded two hits each in the game.
The Royals had tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-out error by Santa Barbara.
The result makes both teams 1-1 in league play. The Dons fell to Buena on Tuesday while the Royals defeated Ventura.
“I’d say it was a real crucial game for us even though it was really early in the season,” said Dons assistant coach Mike Cooney.
Santa Barbara’s scheduled game for Saturday against Narbonne in the Chatsworth Tournament is expected to be canceled because of rain. The Royals (1-1) move on to play Buena (1-0) on Tuesday.
