Jetner Welch came through with a walk-off infield single to give Santa Barbara High baseball a 4-3 victory over Rio Mesa on Friday at Eddie Mathews Field.
After a back-and-forth first six innings of play, the Dons went into the bottom of the seventh down 3-2.
Santa Barbara High drew back-to-back walks and got runners in scoring position on a passed ball before Milo Winckler chopped a ball to the third baseman and Dylan Jemper came home to score the tying run.
One batter later, Welch knocked a ball into the 3-4 hole that was stopped by a diving Spartan second baseman. However, Brandon Weaver never stopped running from second base and came all the way around to score the game-winning run.
Earlier in the game, the Dons opened the scoring on a leadoff solo homer from Winckler in the bottom of the first.
The two sides then exchanged runs for the next six innings as the Spartans scored in the third and took the lead in the fourth before Santa Barbara tied things up at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Rio Mesa then jumped back ahead in the top of the sixth, setting up the late-game heroics.
The Dons will be on the road against Oxnard on Tuesday.
Dos Pueblos 6, Pacifica 3
Matti Di Maggio belted a pair of home runs to help power the Chargers to a victory over the Tritons on Friday in Oxnard.
Dos Pueblos scored two runs in both the first and second innings to take an early 4-0 lead and, although Pacifica scored three runs in the fourth, never surrendered the lead en route to the win.
Di Maggio went 2-for-3 with homers in the second and seventh innings, ending with three RBI and three runs scored.
Meanwhile, Stone Saunders went 2-for-3 with a triple and Marcus Carbajal drove in a pair of runs for the Chargers.
Jameson Barth started the game for Dos Pueblos, allowing two earned runs on no hits and four walks while striking out four in 3 ⅓ innings. Max Means fired 2 ⅔ shutout innings of relief, and Di Maggio slammed the door with a perfect seventh inning of work.
Fillmore 8, Carpinteria High 6
The Warriors suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Fillmore on Friday.
After Fillmore jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, Carpinteria answered with five runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to go up 6-3.
The seesaw battle continued in the bottom of the sixth when the Flashes plated five runs of their own to regain the lead at 8-6.
The Warriors got the tying run into scoring position in the top of the seventh, but Fillmore held on for the victory.
Gabe Martinez turned in a solid start for Carpinteria, going 5 ⅓ innings and striking out four. Jonah Hernandez recorded the final two outs of the sixth.
“Gabe pitched well enough to win,” Carpinteria High head coach Pat Cooney said. “He held his composure through some difficult circumstances and gave the offense the chance to get going. Unfortunately, we didn’t defend like we had hoped.
“We had three players playing out of position today and the good team effort almost held it together. It was a case of too many factors to overcome against a good team.”
Offensively, Jonah Hernandez and Brick Trumble each had three hits for the Warriors, while Gabe Chung and Micah Smith tallied a pair of hits.
“Baseball can be a cruel game,” Cooney said. “Players work at their craft and try like crazy to execute plays and still there are forces beyond their control. Sometimes it doesn’t work out in your favor but you are thankful when you get the chance to play again right away.”
Carpinteria will host Del Sol on Saturday at 11 a.m. at John Calderwood Field.
Ventura 3, San Marcos 2
The Royals dropped a low-scoring affair with the Cougars on Friday in Ventura.
The first four innings of the game went scoreless, as San Marcos’ Mason Crang and Ventura’s Trevor Woodworth were dueling on the mound.
The Cougars broke the tie with three runs in the fifth and held the 3-0 lead into the seventh after an uneventful sixth inning.
The Royals came roaring back in the seventh, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Quinn Melton and an RBI single off the bat of Grant Hoover. However, Ventura got the final out to escape with the victory.
San Marcos will head to Goleta to clash with crosstown rival Dos Pueblos on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.