Foresters Grab Late Lead, Defeat Oaks 3–2

Foresters Grab Late Lead, Defeat Oaks 3–2

By Micah Rodriguez

In their third matchup of the young season, the Santa Barbara Foresters defeated the Conejo Oaks 3–2 at Pirate Park in a pitcher's duel. 

The Oaks jumped on the Foresters in the bottom half of the first. Third baseman Rider Gordon led off with a single down the right field line. One batter later, center fielder Owen Meli – making his debut after coming from California Polytechnic University – was hit by a pitch on his left kneecap to put two runners on.

With two outs, left fielder Caden Stillwell was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for first baseman Danny Aguilera. After falling behind 0-2, Aguilera worked a walk to score Gordon and give the Oaks a 1–0 lead.

Right-hander Johnny Levelis made his second start of the summer for the Oaks. Against the high-powered Forester offense, Levelis battled through four innings, only allowing one run. Currently in the transfer portal after two seasons at Ventura College, Levelis worked around heavy traffic on the bases – five hits and two walks – with weak contact and two strikeouts. 

Levelis's only blemish came in the top of the fourth inning. With a runner on second and two outs, the Foresters lined an RBI double down the right field line to even the score at one. 

After leading 1–0 in their matchup with the Foresters on Friday, the Oaks never regained the lead, as they fell 19–2. But with the score knotted at one, the Oaks took the lead right back in the bottom of the fourth.

Hitting in the eight hole, catcher Aiden Voyles reached on an error to lead off the inning. The following batter, shortstop Zach Nagy, knocked a full-count single through the 3-4 hole. With the order flipped back to the top of the lineup, Gordon was hit in the hand to load the bases with nobody out. 

After a strikeout, Meli lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Voyles from third to give the Oaks the lead back, 2–1. 

The Foresters, who entered the game with a 7–1 record, got that run back in the next half inning. 

Incoming freshman Holden Newhouse came out of the bullpen in relief of Levelis. Making his second appearance of the summer, Newhouse allowed a run in the fifth but settled in to work a scoreless sixth while racking up three strikeouts in his two innings of work. 

Landon Martin followed Newhouse in relief. The right-hander got out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the seventh with a 6-4-3 double play. 

The Foresters did get to Martin in the top of the eighth inning. A two-out RBI triple into the right-center gap gave the Foresters a 3–2 lead. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Voyles lined a two-out single into right-center and advanced to second on a passed ball.

Nagy, already 2-3 on the day, lined a two-strike fastball into right field for his third hit of the day. Voyles, running on contact with two outs, was thrown out at the plate on a strike from the Foresters' right fielder. 

Head Coach David Soliz saw the ball off the bat and believed Voyles had a good chance to score when the ball reached the right fielder. Voyles was running on contact with two outs and got a good secondary lead and jump, according to Soliz.

"It took a really good play," Soliz said when asked what was going through his mind, waving Voyles home. "The transfer was good. The throw was good. The catch and the tag [were good]. A lot of things had to go right from the defensive end for that play to work, and it did."

The Oaks struck out a season-high 16 times against the Foresters, who entered the game with a 1.80 team ERA.

With the loss, the Oaks drop to 5–3 on the season, with all of their losses coming at the hands of the Foresters. The Oaks are back on the diamond tomorrow on the road against the Academy Barons. First pitch is at 6 p.m.