Terrence Kiel roped a walk-off single to score Maddox Mandino and give the Santa Barbara Foresters a dramatic 9-8 win over the Orange County Riptide on Wednesday at Eddie Mathews Field.
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with the Foresters scoring five runs in the eighth to take a strong lead before the Riptide scored five of their own in the ninth to set up Kiel’s heroics.
After Orange County opened the scoring with one run in the top of the first, the Foresters plated three runs of their own thanks to two bases-loaded walks and an RBI single by Caleb Hoover (South Carolina).
The next two innings went scoreless, but the Riptide swung back in the fourth with a pair of runs to even the score at 3-3.
That score remained for the next three innings as both sides settled in on the mound.
Santa Barbara finally broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth with a big five-run inning to pull away and take an 8-3 advantage.
In that eighth inning, the Foresters got runs on a squeeze bunt by Mandino (Louisiana Lafayette) to score Liam Kiethley (Cal Lutheran), two wild pitches, a bases-loaded walk and a Brenton Clark (Arkansas) RBI sacrifice fly.
The Riptide rallied in the top of the ninth with five runs after not scoring in the previous four innings of play.
However, Santa Barbara responded when Mandino walked to begin the rally. He then took off to steal second when Kiel (Texas A&M) sliced his single into right field, and Mandino never stopped on his way around the bases to score the game-winning run.
Kiel had a stellar day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Meanwhile, Mandino scored twice, Easton Moomau (UT Rio Grande) went 2-for-4 and Sawyer Farr (Texas A&M) drove in two runs.
The Foresters will be back at Eddie Mathews Field on Friday for a matchup with the San Diego Waves at 4:30 p.m.
