A 5-1 victory over the Santa Paula Halos on Sunday at UCSB’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium handed the Santa Barbara Foresters the Rawlings Cup championship crown.
Jeremy Montalbano was Santa Barbara’s offensive force in the tournament’s championship game. The Forester catcher and cleanup hitter went 2-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and a home run.
Montalbano was the Tournament co-MVP with Granger Studdard, who had 8 RBI in the four games.
Justin Camp started on the mound for the Foresters and had a perfect game through four innings. He finished with one run allowed and one hit in five innings. Dylan Hecht, Elliot Surrey, Tyler Cohen, Dalton Brown and Troy Cruz combined for four innings of shutout relief.
The Rawlings Cup holds significance for giving the champion an automatic berth into the season-ending NBC World Series in Wichita, Kansas. Since the Foresters already have a place in Wichita by virtue of being the defending champions, Santa Paula gets the prize.
The Foresters improve to 23-4 on the season. They play next on Tuesday at home against the Pacific Union Capitalists at 5:05 p.m.
