'Sters Fall 6-4 Season Ends too Early

By Jim Buckley (photo by Lexi Brintle)

With two runs in the top of the ninth, the Lonestar Kraken took a page from the Foresters’ season-long late-inning heroics, breaking a 4-4 tie and leading to a 6-4 Foresters loss in the NBC World Series quarterfinals, ending the Santa Barbara season much earlier than we all wanted. 

Before the ninth-inning drama, the Foresters had been down to their last six outs, trailing the Kraken 4-1 in the eighth. But Santa Barbara scored three to tie the game. After back-to-back two-out doubles from Cole Chamberlain and Easton Moomau scored a run, the Foresters got the big hit they had been chasing all game long, a two-out, two-run, game-tying homer by Brenton Clark, his first of the summer. 

With the score 4-4 in the top of the ninth, the Kraken got two men on via a hit batter and an infield error. A sac fly scored one run and a single scored the second and those proved to be the winners in a tight game. 

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UPDATED:
2025 AWARDS
The Foresters met after the game and voted for the following awards. Congratulations to all!
MVP: Brenton Clark
EP 19 Pitcher of the Year: A.J. Krodel
Most Valuable Teammate: Vince Gambardella
Coaches Award: Easton Moomau
Most Improved Player: Vince Gambardella
Most Improved Pitcher: J.D. Goodcase
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If there was a theme to Thursdays’ game, it was the Foresters’ quiet bats until the eighth. They had only three hits entering that inning and had hit into three double plays earlier. Meanwhile, the breaks went all the Kraken’s way.

Lonestar got the game’s first runs in the fifth with a little bit of flukiness. After Foresters starter Nic Abraham struck out the first two hitters (he had seven Ks on the day), the Kraken put two men on with a walk and a single. The next batter tried a surprise bunt but Abraham threw it past first base for an error—the Foresters’ first of the tournament—which scored the runner from second. The next batter hit a ball up the middle that bounced off Abraham’s wrist and Easton Moomau at third base could not get the out at first on the rebound; it was 2-0 after that odd play. Another single brought in the third run. J.D. Goodcase came on to shut the door, but the Kraken led 3-0.

Santa Barbara got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Clark led off with a hustle double and moved to third on Terrence Kiel II’s single. Mic Paul’s infield grounder forced Kiel, but Paul beat the throw to first and Clark scored to make it 3-1.  

In the seventh, the Kraken worked three walks off Goodcase and reliever Tag Andrews to load the bases with one out. Lefty Jaden Barfield came in but gave up a run-scoring single and put the ’Sters in a three-run hole again. Barfield then struck out the next batter and induced an inning-ending grounder to third to limit the damage. But the Kraken led 4-1, setting up the eighth-inning drama.

With two outs in that frame, Chamberlain and Moomau hit their back-to-back two-out doubles to make it 4-2 as the ’Sters tried to scratch back in. After the walk to Kiel, Clark blasted the first pitch he saw from a new Kraken reliever into a strong wind and over the right field fence to tie the game. 

The Kraken took the lead back in the ninth against Steele Eaves. After the leadoff batter was hit on the foot, a chopper to third was thrown away by Moomau, putting runners at second and third with no outs. A sac fly to right made it 5-4 Kraken. A double to left-center then padded the lead by one and made the final 6-4.

The Foresters got a man on in the ninth, but struck out three times to end a great season early.

Santa Barbara finishes at 27-11 overall and 23-9 in the California Collegiate League, tops in in the South Division. Stay tuned here for more news as season-ending awards are chosen by the players and also announced by the league. 

Thanks from everyone in the Foresters organization to all our fans, board members, volunteers, staff, sponsors, host families, and Foresters families. A special shout-out to this year’s Hugs Kids, including Blythe Brown and many others; keep that Foresters spirit going as you fight. 

This was a great group of young men who really bonded over the summer, and the memories they created will last longer than the disappointment of today’s outcome. 

As always . . . ’Ster it up!