The Santa Barbara Foresters punched their ticket to the NBC World Series semifinals with a 7-0 victory over the Austin Gold Sox on Thursday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.
Thursday’s quarterfinal win is the third Forester shutout in their four games at the World Series, and they have outscored opponents 34-2 along the way.
Santa Barbara will now face off against either the Seattle Blackfins or Junction City Brigade in the semifinals on Friday, at a time to be determined.
Noah Waldeck (Mercer) got the starting nod for the Foresters’ first elimination game, and he did not disappoint. The right-hander fired seven shutout innings, scattering three hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts.
After a scoreless first, Santa Barbara got on the board in the top of the second on a two-out single by Donovan Lasalle (Louisville) to score Caleb Hoover (Nebraska), who doubled to lead off the frame.
The ‘Sters doubled their lead to 2-0 in the third when Zane Becker (Texas A&M) drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs.
The fourth inning then went scoreless, but the Santa Barbara offense got right back to work with another two-out burst in the fifth. The first run came courtesy of a wild pitch, and Brady Janusek (Baylor) extended the advantage to 4-0 with an RBI triple.
The Foresters tacked on one run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to round out the scoring, with Cole Chamberlain (Oregon) roping an RBI double, Janusek driving in a run on a groundout and a run-scoring passed ball to make it a 7-0 lead.
That lead proved to be the final score, as Brody Berlowitz (Central Oklahoma) handled a scoreless eighth and Will Jordan (Oklahoma State) slammed the door in the ninth to secure the win.
The Santa Barbara pitching staff was in complete control, allowing just one baserunner to reach scoring position throughout the game.
Chris Newstrom (UCSB) led the ‘Sters with two hits, while Sawyer Farr (Oklahoma) reached base four times and came in to score twice.
