July 28, 2019 Thousand Oaks, CA Ross Cadena (Wichita State) doubled, hit an RBI-single and scored two runs, Christian Franklin (Arkansas) hit a two-run home run, Jacob Katzfey (Wichita State) had three hits, and Jake Jackson (Nevada) and four relievers combined to allow one run over nine innings to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 6-1 win over the Healdsburg Prune Packers in the deciding game of the California State Championship series today at Sparky Anderson Field. Batting second and third in the Foresters’ lineup, Cadena and Franklin combined in the third inning to first tie the game and then give Santa Barbara a lead they would not give up. Heading into that inning with Healdsburg leading 1-0 after John Lagatutta (Cal) hit a solo home run in the second, Cadena drove in Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts), who had walked, with the tying run and Franklin hit his home run to give the Foresters a 3-1 lead. Santa Barbara increased its lead in the next inning when Katzfey, who tripled in his previous at bat and would double in his next, singled with one in the fourth and scored on an RBI-single by Cash, and added one more when Cash scored on a Eric Kennedy (Texas) double to make the score 5-1. The early runs were plenty for Jackson and the Santa Barbara relievers. Jackson went the first five innings, allowing the one run but otherwise stranding six baserunners over his five-inning start. Striking out none but also walking none, Jackson pitched around a pair of two-out singles in the first inning to hold the Packers scoreless, pitched around a two-out single in the second after Lagatutta hit his home run to leadoff the inning, stranded a baserunner who had reached on a one-out error in the third, stranded another runner who had reached base on a single in both the fourth and fifth innings to conclude his strong start and earn the win. Kevin Larson (Fresno State) started the sixth inning in relief of Jackson and pitched the next two innings scoreless, striking out one before Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched around a leadoff walk to hold Healdsburg scoreless in the eighth and Brad Demco (Oklahoma) struck out the side in the ninth to both close out the Foresters championship win and put an exclamation point on his pitching performance this summer, finishing the season as the league’s top strikeout pitcher and not allowing a run in 18 appearances. Trey Garlett (Texas Tech) started on the mound today for Healdsburg and suffered the loss, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out two over three and two-thirds innings. Spencer Hynes (Houston) and Andrew Hansen (St. Mary’s) both pitched in the fourth inning in relief of Garlett, Hynes surrendering the fifth run charged to Garlett when Kennedy hit his double, and Hansen getting the final out of the fourth and continuing on to retire the side in order in the fifth. Randy Polonia (UConn) pitched around Katzfey’s double to hold the Foresters scoreless in the sixth inning and started the seventh, allowing Cadena’s double before Noah Rennard took over and struck out the first batter he faced before Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) drove in the sixth Santa Barbara run with a single. Morgan White (Portland) retired the side in order in the eighth inning, striking out two, to finish on the mound for the Packers. Having won the CCL Championship on Friday and the California State Championsip today, the Foresters next set their sights on the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas already in progress with the Foresters set to play their first game later this week. Click here for the boxscore of this game