With ten NBC World Series titles the to show for their historical success, the Foresters have become a staple of Santa Barbara summer recreation.
Manager Bill Pintard returns for his 31st season leading the Foresters, adding to his legacy of mastery molding some of the most talented collegiate players in the country year after year into a cohesive unit. However, the past two seasons, the Foresters have come up short of their ultimate goal, winning the NBC World Series Championship.
“I think our pitching is going to be really good,” said Pintard of the 2025 Foresters outlook.“I don’t know how we are going to hit.”
Much of the optimism around the pitching staff is due to the presence of four talented UC Santa Barbara arms, including Frank Camarillo, who was a standout for the Foresters last summer.
In addition, Hudson Barrett, AJ Krodel, and Donovann Jackson will be joining the Foresters for the first time. Barrett was a Freshman All-American and garnered Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors in 2023. His 2024 and 2025 collegiate seasons have been cut short by injury, but he is healthy and ready to pitch this summer.
Another pitcher to watch is Aiden Keenan from Stanford, who projects as one of the Cardinal’s regular weekend starters next season.
An area of depth for the Foresters will be catcher led by TCU’s Brady Dallimore. Other catchers include Zane Becker, expected to start for Arkansas next season, and Cole Chamberlain from University of Texas.
The Foresters will have no shortage of speedsters this season with Terrence Kiel of Texas A&M, who started 54 games for the Aggies this past season and led the team with 12 stolen bases. Kyeler Thompson was perhaps even more spectacular on the basepaths as he stole 29 bases in 29 attempts at Texas Tech.
A pair of former Santa Barbara High players will return to Eddie Mathews Field to make their Foresters debut in Vincent Gamberdella of UNLV and Liam Keithley of Cal Lutheran.
The prevalence of NIL and the transfer portal have added to the challenge of putting summer collegiate teams together as players are constantly on the move. The current edition of Foresters are for the most part settled on their college programs going into next season, which allows them to focus on baseball.
“I think we’re going to be okay,” Pintard said of navigating the current landscape of college baseball. “This year, we recruited from some different places.”
The Foresters’ first six games will be on the road, starting Friday, June 6, at 7 p.m. against the OC Riptide. The home opener will be on Friday, June 13, against Phillippine National Baseball Federation.
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