Foresters Fall 7-6 to OC Riptide
Foresters Failed to Find the Clutch Hits to Secure the Victory
Despite racking up 11 hits and drawing eight walks, the Santa Barbara Foresters were defeated by the OC Riptide 7-6 on Sunday.
The Foresters had an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth inning but stranded a runner on third base in their second one-run loss of the young season.
Right fielder Rylan Charles was a bright spot for the Foresters as he finished with three hits and two runs batted in.
Santa Barbara’s starting pitcher David Shaw shut out the Riptide in his four innings on the mound, but the Riptide broke through for five runs in the fifth inning against the Foresters’ bullpen.
In the decisive fifth inning, the Foresters committed two errors and also walked three batters (one intentionally), as the Riptide strung together clutch hits that would elude the Foresters most of the night. A 1-0 Foresters lead turned into a 5-1 deficit. OC added single runs in the seventh and eighth to stay a step or two ahead of Santa Barbara.
The Foresters chipped away at the lead late in the game as a Jack Holman sac fly in the seventh and another from Charles in the eighth pulled the Foresters to within one. In both innings, though, they left runners on base. In the ninth, Charles cracked a run-scoring single, his third hit of the night, scoring Josh Stinson. But Charles could only watch as the inning and the game ended on a Will Pendergrass fly ball.
After a day off the Foresters (2-2) will play at Conejo Oaks on Tuesday, June 14, at 4:30 p.m.
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