The Foresters kept it rolling with a 10-6 victory, their sixth straight, over the OC Riptide on Friday at Pershing Park.
Santa Barbara (20-10) rode the strength of a seven-run fourth inning to extend their longest winning streak of the summer.
The scoring got started early, as the Foresters took a 1-0 lead in the first on a run-scoring drop third strike. The Riptide answered with two runs of their own in the top of the second to grab a lead.
After a scoreless third, the Santa Barbara offense exploded for seven runs in the fourth to blow the game open and take an 8-2 lead.
In the onslaught of a fourth inning, Hunter Ensley opened the floodgates with an RBI single. After a run scored on an error, Miguel Santos roped a two-RBI double to bring their lead to 5-2. Rylan Charles and Gavin Kash each tacked on RBIs of their own to make the score 7-2.
Nate Rombach wrapped up the big inning with a solo homer, giving the Foresters a lead that they wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the game.
The Riptide didn’t go away quietly, as they answered Santa Barbara’s big inning with a four-run fifth inning to cut the lead down to 8-6.
However, the Foresters shut down any hope of a comeback in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Kash and an RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Griffin Everitt to extend their lead to 10-6, the eventual final score.
Santos, Kash and Ensley led the offense with two-hit performances, and both Santos and Kash drove in two runs apiece.
On the mound was Parker Smith (5-0), who picked up his fifth win of the season to stay perfect after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out three in four innings of work.
The Forester bullpen stayed solid, as they shut out the Riptide offense in the final five innings of the game.
Santa Barbara will wrap up their three-game homestand with a matchup against the Academy Barons on Saturday at Pershing Park at 6 p.m.