The 2026 edition of the Santa Barbara Foresters will have plenty of star power as the summer progresses, but it could take some time for the team to gel.
About half of the projected roster is competing in the NCAA tournament, so early season mixing and matching will be a necessity.
In 2025, the Foresters were formidable in California Collegiate League play with a 23-9 record. But they ultimately fell short of their goal to win an 11th NBC World Series Championship in Wichita, Kansas. The Foresters have not won the title since 2022.
“To tell you the truth, we don’t have a lot of guys at the beginning of the season,” said longtime Foresters Manager Bill Pintard. “Half our team won’t be here for a little bit. We’re going to be thin at the beginning.”
With the lineup in flux, a couple of local prospects who are nearing graduation ― Max Weddle at Santa Barbara High and Mason Crang at San Marcos High ― will have an opportunity to compete against top-notch collegiate players.
Another local standout is SBCC’s Wylan Nelson, who is fresh off being named Southern California Community College Player of the Year after leading the Vaqueros on a deep post-season run. Nelson shined as both a pitcher and a hitter.
The Foresters will also welcome back several key returners, including pitcher Noah Waldeck of Saint Mary’s; Taylor Hoover from South Carolina, who was a position player last year but will pitch this season; Sawyer Farr, an infielder from Texas A&M; and Zane Becker, a catcher from Texas A&M.
Rounding out the returners is Kurt Ippolito, who played for the Foresters two years ago. He hit .363 with 11 homers at Central Christian this season.
The most physically gifted player on the 2026 Foresters roster will certainly be newcomer Jorian Wilson of Texas A&M, who is 6′4″ and 240 pounds with blazing speed.
Wilson hit .283 with 12 home runs in 130 at bats. Almost all of those numbers were accumulated in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. He was named to the Freshman All-SEC team.
“He’s a taller version of Bo Jackson,” Pintard said. “He didn’t start the season with Texas A&M, but when he started playing all of his numbers came in SEC play, which is the best conference in the nation.”
Another top player figures to be Brady Janusek, who hit .297 with 14 home runs as a freshman at Baylor.
The landscape of college baseball is changing with the transfer portal and NIL, short for Name, Image, and Likeness, new regulations that allow college athletes to monetize their personal brands. That has made roster building for summer collegiate wood-bat baseball especially challenging.
“We have to sign these guys in October, and by the time the season rolls around, some of them have to go to summer school, some of them are injured, and some of them are in the portal and have to find a school,” Pintard said.
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