It’s not often you see nine errors committed in a baseball game.
Two days in a row? That’s just plain bizarre.
A day after pulling out a 3-2 extra-inning win up in Santa Maria, the Santa Barbara Foresters found themselves on the losing end of a 4-3 decision at the hands of the So Cal Black Sox at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium Friday.
“I’m a little disappointed,” said coach Bill Pintard. “Not with the hitting, but with the defense. You need to be able to throw and catch.”
Santa Barbara committed four errors on the day.
Dos Pueblos High alum and current UCSB Gaucho Chris Joyce took the hill for the Foresters in his first live pitching performance in a long while. He sat out this year for the Gauchos and was hampered by injury as a Forester last year (he was, however, a successful hurler for the Foresters two summers ago while still a Charger).
The rust showed for Joyce, who struggled mightily in the first inning before settling down. He walked the first Black Sox batter, which was followed by a bunt single and two hit batters to but the visitors up 1-0. Joyce then struck out two straight, balked a second run in and finally got out of the inning with a third strikeout.
“Joyce is gonna pitch better as the season goes along. It’s early right now,” said Pintard.
The Foresters got one back in the bottom of the frame and Joyce settled down considerably until being replaced by Casey Yokubaitis in the sixth. John De Alba singled in the tying run in the third to make it 2-2.
Yokubaitis give up a quick RBI single to put the first-year Black Sox up in the sixth, and the errors caught up to Santa Barbara in the seventh when leadoff batter Michael Hamrong reached on a Foresters error and later came around to score on another miscue to pick up the fourth run of the game for the visitors.
Casey McMurray led off the bottom of the ninth with a hard-hit double down the left field line and pinch-runner Michael Liberto came in to cut the lead to one. De Alba ended up with a great opportunity to win the game, coming up with two outs and the winning run at second base. He hit a screaming ground ball to right field which would have won it, but it was called foul by inches. De Alba was then punched out swinging.
“It was disappointing, but we’ll talk to these guys and we’ll be fine,” said Pintard.
Santa Barbara (5-1) hosts the California Wahoo at 5 p.m. Saturday.
