Foresters Struggle on Defense and at the Plate in 8-2 Loss to San Luis Obispo Blues

With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Foresters suffered a major setback with an 8-2 loss to the S.L.O. Blues on Wednesday at Eddie Matthews Field.

The Foresters have struggled with their rivals from San Luis Obispo of late, dropping their last three games against the Blues. In addition, Wednesday’s loss was especially costly as it dropped Santa Barbara a half-game behind Conejo Oaks for first place in the CCL South standings.

“You have to give credit to San Luis Obispo; they’ve owned us the last three games,” said Foresters manager Bill Pintard. “We’ve just got to show some resolve. We’ll have our guys back tomorrow. We’ve got a good pitcher going, so hopefully we play well.”

Almost half of the Foresters starting lineup played in the CCL showcase game on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, and the quick turnaround was noticeable as five costly errors erased any chance for Santa Barbara to defeat the Blues on Thursday.

Payton Gubler started on the mound for Santa Barbara but struggled with his command early and issued bases-loaded walks in the first and second innings to give the Blues a 2-0 lead.

The Foresters struggled to figure out Blues starting pitcher Logan Groff early in the game, but bounced back with one run in the bottom of the fourth innings after back-to-back doubles by Jack Holman and Johnny Rodriguez. 

Holman and Rodriguez were bright spots in an otherwise lethargic Santa Barbara lineup. The combined for five of the Foresters’ six hits in the game. Holman will be transferring from UCLA to UC Santa Barbara next college season, so he is getting a head start on getting accustomed to Santa Barbara this summer. 

“Santa Barbara is a great place, obviously. I’ve fallen in love with the city,” Holman said. “I’m excited to get going in a great program and hopefully bring another conference championship to Santa Barbara.”

Holman added to his great day at the plate with an RBI single to right field that cut the Foresters’ deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

From there, it was all San Luis Obispo as the Blues added one run each in the seventh and eighth innings before Ethan Royal broke the game open in the top of the ninth inning with a bases-clearing double that gave Blues an 8-2 lead. 

The two teams will play for the final time this season in San Luis Obispo on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.