For the second day in a row, Santa Barbara High and Buena decided their league championship- game in a walk off. It was Buena celebrating on Wednesday as the Bulldogs spoiled the Dons’ shot at a share of the Channel League title by defeating Santa Barbara 1-0.
Zane Chittenden’s blasted a two-out hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Nick Bero with the game’s only run.
The result gives Dos Pueblos (8-4) the outright league and leaves Buena, Santa Barbara and Ventura in a tie for second at 7-5. Ventura received the league’s No. 2 playoff seeding based on winning the three-games series against Buena and Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara will be the No. 3 playoff entry based on winning its series against Buena.
Wednesday’s game was a pitching duel between Buena’s Austin Rubick and Santa Barbara Trevor Moropoulos. Rubick was the winner, improving his season record to 9-2, by throwing seven shutout innings and striking out nine. The Dons tallied just three hits off Rubick without any walks.
Moropoulos finished with a game-high 10 strikeouts.
The game was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved to Wednesday because of the chance of rain. Tuesday’s series opener in Santa Barbara was won by the Dons 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
