Waves Crashed: Foresters Champion A Ninth Inning Walk Off Win

What a game! 

In a thrilling, down-to-the-wire matchup, the Santa Barbara Foresters pulled off a fantastic 9th inning to secure a dramatic 5 - 4 walk-off victory over the San Diego Waves. 

Here is how the action unfolded: 

At Eddie Mathews Field on June 18th, the San Diego Waves wasted no time getting ahead on the board in the first few minutes of the first inning. Capitalizing on a costly shortstop error from Santa Barbara's Sawyer Farr, San Diego's Tyler Wick RBI'd both David Vergel de Dios and Theo Kim. Whereas San Diego's Andreas Nilsen had kept the momentum going with a sharp RBI double in the right field - center field gap, quickly advancing the Waves to a 3 - 0 lead over the Foresters. However, the Foresters were able to answer right back in the bottom of the first inning when Chris Newstrom lined an RBI double to successfully drive in Kurt Ippolito, cutting the game's deficit 3 - 1. 

Zane Burns made his second start of the 2026 season, delivering a dominant outing on the mound for the Santa Barbara Foresters. He faced 21 batters, allowing 3 runs while also racking up 9 strikeouts over 5 innings. The bullpen locked down the victory from there, as Joshua Woodworth, Will Jordan, and Joey Wittig combined for a dominant relief system. 

Pitching and defense took over for the middle frames right until the sixth inning, when Newstrom struck again with his bat. Showing all around great batting discipline in a 3 - 0 count, he singled to drive in Sawyer Farr, bringing Santa Barbara within one run closer to the Waves. However, the Waves were able to answer with some comfortable insurance in the top of the seventh inning, where San Diego's Kerim Orucevic hit a clutch RBI single to drive in San Diego's Mikey Valdivia, which extended the Waves' lead to 4 - 2 and set up a picture-perfect ninth inning. 

Then came the moment the crowd and both dugouts had anticipated. 

Santa Barbara being down by 2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the weight of the entire game was getting heavier. They were down to their final three outs. At this point, the margin for error had vanished completely; it was either win or go home time, and the San Diego Waves looked entirely poised to ride their two-run cushion straight to a victory celebration head back down the Southern California coast. 

But in the spirit of America's pastime, baseball is a game played without a physical clock for a reason. It becomes really simple: you cannot simply run out of time; you have to champion all three outs in the ninth inning. 

The Foresters' dugout began to amplify their passion for a nice win. What started as a flicker of hope quickly ignited into a giant raging fire. A disciplined plate appearance here, a base hit there, and suddenly the tension at Eddie Mathews Field almost became suffocating. 

The Waves' defense and pitching staff began to slowly but surely shake. Their infield and outfield shifted with each batter. One by one, bases at the bottom of the ninth began to be filled. 

Sawyer Farr took his place at third base, just ninety feet from hope. Kurt Ippolito danced off second, a living representation of the exact tying run for Santa Barbara. And then Addison Klepsch loaded the cushions at first base—three ducks on the pond, exactly two runs down. The diamond was a stage set in absolute drama, with the dugout practically cheering. 

Brady Janusek stepped confidently out of the dugout. 

The crowd and both dugouts seemed to focus entirely on him as he walked from being on deck to stepping into the batter's box. Janusek dug his cleats into the dirt and stared down the pitcher to get comfortable in the box. This was a moment that every kid dreamed about in the backyard at one point, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, the game entirely on your shoulders. The pitcher kicked and delivered, sensing a good pitch his eyes had selected, and unleashed a ferocious, hard hit. The sound that had followed was an echoed crack, the sound of a baseball meeting the sweet spot of a wooden bat. 

Chaos erupted. 

When the ball got situated on the right side of the diamond, Foresters' runners were on the move. Sawyer Farr sprinted across home plate to cut the deficit to one. Right behind him, Kurt Ippolito rounded third like a runaway freight train, sliding hard across the dish to tie the game at 4 - 4, making the crowd go wild. But it was not over. The ball was still lingering around the field as Addison Klepsch, who had started all the way from first, flew around third. The third base coach was waving his arms and yelling. Klepsch did not look back. He sprinted with all the energy that he had left, launching a headfirst slide towards home plate as the throw came in. 

Safe! 

The Foresters' dugout rapidly emptied in a tidal wave of white jerseys, and Janusek, standing near second base, was completely swarmed by his ecstatic teammates. In one swift, spectacular, 3 RBI walk-off sequence, the Santa Barbara Foresters had shattered the Waves' defense, capping off a legendary ninth-inning rally to steal a 5 - 4 victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was a comeback for the ages, etched forever into the history of Foresters baseball. 

Catch the Foresters against the Arroyo Seco Saints in Pasadena at 5:35 PM or live-streamed on our YouTube channel.