IRVINE, Calif – With an opportunity to claim a statement win over the CCL-leading Santa Barbara Foresters, the Orange County Riptide came unglued in the 10th inning, dropping Thursday’s matchup, 7-2, at Great Park.
As the game entered extras tied at two, Orange County’s pitching staff had Santa Barbara’s offense that came into Thursday’s game leading the league in most offensive categories searching for answers – firing six consecutive scoreless frames. Right-hander Jack Rudometkin, who made his Riptide debut, took the hill for his third inning of relief after tossing scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
A dangerous Foresters’ lineup finally clicked.
Pinch-hitter Cole Chamberlain led off the frame by blasting a two-run homer to right field to give Santa Barbara a 4-2 lead.
Then, defensive miscues opened the floodgates. Second baseman Joseph Sandusky grounded a ball back to Rudometkin, who failed to flip the ball to first in time, allowing Sandusky to hustle down the line and beat out the one-hop toss.
Third baseman Ryan Castro followed the mistake with one of his own, firing a ball down the right field line on a sacrifice bunt from Carter Rutenbar, giving Santa Barbara two runners in scoring position with no outs.
“The wheels fell off after the home run,” said head coach Bryan Evans. “We should have won the game in nine anyways. The first run they got was unearned, [if] we take care of the baseball, we win that ballgame.”
The Foresters would tack on three more runs before securing a 7-2 victory, evening the season series at two apiece.
Defensive lapses have cost Orange County in recent losses. The Riptide committed two critical mistakes in Thursday’s loss as well as a season-high six errors in Tuesday’s 7-4 loss to the Conejo Oaks.
Despite the loss, Orange County had multiple players make their season debut, including starting pitcher Ryan Oaks.
The southpaw impressed in his first outing with the Orange and Blue, tossing five innings while allowing one earned run and striking out five.
“He [Oaks] was filling up the zone with multiple pitches and keeping them off-balance,” Evans said. “He got quick outs. He grinded through some outs. It was good to see.”
Orange County fell to 21-13 on the season and will look to bounce back Friday night as they host the San Diego Bombers at Great Park.
First pitch set for 7:00 p.m.
