Brady Janusek came through with the first walk-off hit of his life as the Foresters rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to claim a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Waves on Thursday at Eddie Mathews Field.
In an epic display of clutch hitting, the Foresters made the majority of their headway in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. Addison Klepsch worked a one-out walk, Kurt Ippolito reached base on an infield single with two outs, and Sawyer Farr loaded the bases with a walk, setting the stage for Janusek’s heroics.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in him. He hasn’t gotten off to the start that he wanted because he is a really good hitter,” said Foresters manager Bill Pintard of Janusek. “He hit in the two-hole at Baylor, and he was a freshman All-American.”
“Get a cookie,” Pintard yelled from the dugout just before Janusek roped a line drive down the left-field line. Farr dashed around the bases, running through a stop sign from the third-base coach, and slid headfirst into home just ahead of the tag from the Waves’ catcher.
The entire Foresters team mobbed Janusek, who narrowly avoided an ice bath from the cooler.
“That was my first walk-off ever, so I’m just glad those three guys in front of me got on base and allowed me to get up to bat,” Janusek said. “It was good to get that swing right there. I was hoping it was going to end the game, and it did.”
San Diego took an early lead in the first inning, capitalizing on a Santa Barbara fielding error. After a throwing error by shortstop Sawyer Farr, Tyler Wick drove in David Vergel de Dios and Theo Kim with a two-run RBI single. Andreas Nilsen followed with an RBI double to right-center field, extending the Waves’ advantage to 3-0.
The Foresters responded in the bottom of the inning when Chris Newstrom hit an RBI double that scored Kurt Ippolito, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Santa Barbara starter Zane Burns made his second start of the 2026 season and worked five innings, allowing three runs while striking out nine batters. Relievers Joshua Woodworth, Will Jordan, and Joey Wittig combined to hold the Waves to one run over the final four innings.
After several scoreless innings, the Foresters narrowed the gap in the sixth. Newstrom delivered again, singling on a 3-0 count to drive in Farr and make it a 3-2 game.
The Waves added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Kerim Orucevic singled home Mikey Valdivia, restoring a two-run lead at 4-2.
Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the ninth, the Foresters refused to quit and mounted a comeback, improving their overall record to 10-1 this summer.
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