The Santa Barbara Foresters suffered their first loss of the summer baseball season, falling to the Southern California Halos, 8-5, at Pershing Park on Sunday.
The Foresters won their first four games and outscored their opponents 72-6, including a 35-2 blowout on the Fourth of July.
They were ahead 4-3 in the seventh when the Halos scored four runs and added one in the eighth off Jake Harrell, the Foresters’ fourth pitcher.
In the seventh, UCSB-bound Brock Mortensen of Ventura and San Diego State’s Jaden Fein had RBI singles, and Willie Barcena of Antelope Valley University blasted a two-run homer. Josiah Chavez of Santa Paula High scored in the eighth after a single, a two-base error and a wild pitch.
The Foresters led 4-1 after five innings, scoring a run in the first and three in the fifth. Justin Campbell singled in Pat Caulfield for the first run. In the fifth, Nick Oakley drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored on an error by the right fielder on Matthew McLain’s fly ball. Caulfield followed with a RBI double and Christian Franklin hit a run-scoring single.
McLain scored on a passed ball in the seventh, but the Foresters stranded two runners in the inning. They left two more on in the eighth and one in the ninth.
After hammering 30 hits on Saturday, the Foresters were held to a season-low eight hits on Sunday.
The Foresters are off Monday and begin a five-game series with the Texas Express Baseball Club on Tuesday.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.