Behind the arm of Zane Petty, the Santa Barbara Foresters advanced to the NBC World Series Championship game with a 5-0 win over the Seattle Studs on Friday in Wichita, Kan.
Petty’s performance and a steady barrage of hits by the Foresters clinched a spot in the championship matchup on Saturday at 5 p.m. PST against the Hutchinson Kansas Monarchs.
The semifinal game was a pitcher’s duel early, as neither side allowed a run through four innings.
When the runs did come, they came in a trio for Santa Barbara in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Black broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double that scored Ryan Galvan and Jalin Flores followed that up with a two-run blast to jump out to the 3-0 lead.
Petty continued to cruise on the bump, ending with seven shutout innings with three hits allowed and eight strikeouts.
In the bottom of the seventh, back-to-back solo homers by Eamonn Lance and Will Rogers put the nail in the coffin by extending the Forester lead to 5-0.
Sean Youngerman and Nick Proctor then shut down the Studs in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to earn the win and advance to the title game.
As a team, the Foresters totaled 11 hits with Rogers (3-for-4) and Galvan (2-for-3) turning in multi-hit performances.
Santa Barbara now has a date with the Hutchinson Kansas Monarchs in a matchup between the only two undefeated teams at the NBC World Series. The Foresters are in search of their fourth straight NBC World Series title.
