Santa Barbara High baseball wrapped up non-league play with a 5-1 win over Arroyo Grande on Saturday at Eddie Matthews Field.
The Dons (3-1) will head into Channel League action on Tuesday against Rio Mesa on the road.
“This was our final tune-up, the boys were itching to get back out here after the rain,” Santa Barbara coach Steve Schuck said. “We’ll see how it goes from here on out.”
After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first by Dons starter Eric Anthony, the Santa Barbara High offense threatened in the bottom half.
Liam Keithley walked and Jetner Welch was hit by a pitch to start a rally and following a balk, the Dons had runners on second and third with one out.
However, back-to-back strikeouts by Arroyo Grande starter Noah Wright kept the game scoreless.
Both pitchers settled in from there and the 0-0 tie held until the bottom of the fourth when Santa Barbara finally got to Wright.
Michael Firestone was hit by a pitch and Grady Wilson beat out an infield single to energize the Dons dugout and put runners on first and second with two outs.
Firestone and Wilson then executed a double steal to get into scoring position and it paid off, as a passed ball allowed Firestone to scamper home and give Santa Barbara High a 1-0 lead.
However, the Eagles answered right back in the top of the fifth with an RBI sacrifice fly from James Bishop to knot the game up at 1-1.
In the top of the fifth, Arroyo Grande loaded the bases with no outs, but Anthony managed to get three straight outs and escape with just one run allowed.
“Even though we don’t want to give up runs, we want to see [Anthony] fight through stuff and he fought through that inning,” Schuck said. “It could’ve been a big inning and he shut the door for us.”
The Dons kept the scoring rolling in the bottom half when Peter Moschitto, who walked to lead off the inning, scored on an Arroyo Grande throwing error to regain the lead.
Kaden Spencer then took the ball from Anthony in the sixth, ending the starter’s day with five strong innings that included four strikeouts and three hits allowed.
“[Anthony] is getting better, he competed today which is good,” Schuck said. “We’ve been trying to just put him in situations to get him to grow.”
Spencer retired the side in order, maintaining the Dons lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Santa Barbara High separated themselves in the sixth, as both Zeke Adderly and Anthony roped RBI singles and Kai Mault knocked in a run on an RBI sacrifice fly to expand the lead out to 5-1.
“This is only our fourth game, so our hitters are a little behind as you could tell by the first four innings,” Schuck said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to push runs across.”
“This offense dictated that when we get the lead, we’ll play for one all the way through.”
Adderly then took the mound in the top of the seventh and slammed the door, striking out two Eagles in a 1-2-3 inning to clinch the win.
The Dons will now turn their attention to Channel League action, where they finished 8-6 and in third place last season.