The San Diego Torero Duo Get it Done in Santa Barbara with CJ Moran and Kyle Becker Driving in the Blues Three Runs

By:Julianne Shivers/SLO Blues

Santa Barbara, Calif. - The Blues outhit the Foresters 8-4 and struck out 11 batters to even the season series to 1-1.

The Foresters are a touchy subject when brought up in conjunction with the Blues. With a heavy Division-1 Power-4 lineup the Foresters are always looked at as the premier summer club in the California Collegiate League. The Blues have some Division-1 players of their own but it is hard to compete with the multi time National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series title holder 'Sters. 

When the Blues travel to Santa Barbara or the Foresters travel up to San Luis Obispo it is always a match up people keep their eyes on. With the last match up being June 21 where we saw the Blues fall 6-2 against a hot Santa Barbara team. 

The Blues looked to salvage their season series, going down to Santa Barbara with a crew of Blues interns to cheer on the team. One game a season, the Blues intern staff are required to travel to one away game and this game drew a bleacher full of 29 interns cheering for their hometown Blues. Director of tickets intern, Ava Cox, was able to speak on the energy of the game as a fan.

"The energy was super high," Cox said. "Everyone was enjoying themselves so much, we loved watching the Blues win and beat the Santa Barbara Foresters."

The Foresters play at Eddie Matthews field which is the Santa Barbara High School's field. Eddie Matthews has four sets of bleachers that hold approximately 100-200 fans comfortably. With roughly half the fans that day being Blues interns, it made Eddie Matthews feel like a home game.

The game itself saw a little bit of everything from a baseball standpoint. It was a quiet game until the announced "Beer Batter" of the game came to the plate for his first appearance. A Beer Batter is a batter that if he was to strike out a lucky fan in the crowd gets rewarded with free beer.

The beer batter of the day was University of San Diego first baseman CJ Moran, no one got free beer that day. Moran and his future Torero teammate Kyle Becker were named as players of the game. Moran went 2-4 at the plate driving in one run and not striking out a single time. One of the balls flew off his bat at 104 miles an hour for his second hit of the game in the seventh inning. Moran was able to speak on if he felt the pressure in being labeled the beer batter and deliver for his team in the way he did.

"A little bit, it made it more fun," Moran said. "It was more pressure and I just kind of wanted to pick up the moment and just handle the moment and I think I did it well today."

His future teammate Becker was the player who turned the game on its head for the Blues. The future Torero hit a two-run home run over the right field wall that was hit so hard Trackman, the system used to capture every detail of ball flight and movement from the moment the ball leaves the pitcher's hand to the moment it is hit or caught (Trackman.com), couldn't pick up its speed and distance. When a ball is hit over 106 miles per hour, Trackman has a hard time picking it up. Nothing came up on the Trackman screen after Becker made contact with the ball and it went soaring to right. When Becker was asked what it felt like to hit the dagger that left the Blues out on top he credited his team.

"It felt awesome," Becker said. "When my buddies and fellow Toreros are getting on base, getting hits, it just makes me want to hit even more and it fired me up."

Indiana Hoosier catcher, Miles Mador, also had what could've been a game-winning play at the plate. In the ninth inning with Foresters pinch runner Joseph Sandusky on first and tying run Marcus Greis at the plate, Greis hit a double sharply into right center. With Sandusky barreling home in hopes of making it a one-run ball game Mador was able to lay down the tag for the big second out of the inning. 

Blues C Miles Mador (48) applies a tag on Foresters pinch runner Joseph Sandusky (6) for the second out of the ninth inning during the game against the Santa Barbara Foresters at Eddie Matthews Field in Santa Barbara, California on June 25, 2026. (Photo by: Carter Bradley/SLO Blues)

Blues pitching staff also showed out allowing four hits using five arms to get the job done. Tre Lagrone was tabbed with the win and closer Chance Jasso collected his second save of the season.

The staff threw five scoreless innings only giving up one hit in those five frames. Blues starter, Corbin Giesen, threw three innings allowing one hit in the second and striking out four batters. The singular hit he gave up in the second was to Kurt Ippolito who was the only Forester to reach base through three innings. 

The next time the Blues face the Foresters of their six scheduled matchups is July 11 at Sinsheimer Baseball Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

Play-by-play

1 | Hunter Vincent was the starting pitcher for the Foresters. In the first inning Vincent went 1-2-3 through the Blues lineup. Cesar Chavez and Miles Mador flew out to right and Brendan Comerford struck out swinging. The Blues starter, Corbin Giesen followed with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. Giesen faced Marcus Greis, Sawyer Farr, and Chris Newstrom. Greis grounded out to second, Farr struck out looking, and Newstrom grounded out to third to end the inning.

2 | The Blues scored one run on two hits in the top of the second. Vincent faced Kyle Becker, Diego Murillo, CJ Moran, Mason Ashlock, and Kosei Suzuki. Becker struck out swinging. Murillo got the first hit of the day with a single ripped up the middle. Murillo also snagged two bases after stealing second and advancing to third on an error by the shortstop. Moran was the next Blue to collect a hit with an RBI single to right scoring Murillo to put the Blues on top. Ashlock and Suzuki struck out to leave Moran on the base paths. The Foresters also collected their first hit of the day but weren't able to capitalize on it. Giesen faced Carter Rutenbar, Wylan Nelson, Kurt Ippolito, and Brady Janusek. Rutenbar popped up to Comerford at third. Nelson grounded out back to Gisen who flipped it to Moran on first. Ippolito collected the first hit with a single through the 5-6 hole. Janusek ended the inning striking out swinging.

3 | Vincent struck out the side in the top of the third. Vincent faced Diego Gonzalez, Chavez, and Mador all three went down swinging. Giesen made quick work of the Forester lineup, throwing his second 1-2-3 inning. Gisen faced Zane Backer, Cole Chamberlain, and Greis. Becker flew out to left with the ball exiting 93 off the bat. Chamberlain struck out looking and Greis struck out swinging to end the inning.

4 | Vincent faced just one batter in the fourth before being taken out of the game. Comerford came to the plate and hit a single 98 off the bat into right and this prompted a pitching change to righty Joshua Woodworth. Woodworth only had to throw one pitch to clear the bases of Comerford. Becker came to the plate and crushed a home run over the right field wall to put the Blues on top 3-0. Murillo drew a walk in his appearance. Moran flew out to center for the first out. Ashlock hammered a single to send Murillo to third. Ashlock was caught stealing for the second out. Suzuki ended the inning grounding out to short. Tre Lagrone entered the game for the Blues in the fourth. Farr led off in the fourth, drawing a walk. Newstrom was able to advance Farr to second on a sac bunt back to Lagrone. Rutenbar grounded out to Moran at first for the second out. Nelson grounded out to second to end the inning. 

5 | It was a 1-2-3 inning for the Foresters' new arm Noah Waldeck. Waldeck faced Gonzalez, Chavez, and Mador. Gonzalez struck out, Chavez hit a single into left but was caught stealing, Mador struck out to end the inning. Mikey Rodriguez entered for the Blues in the fifth. Ippolito flew out to Suzuki in right for the first out of the inning. Janusek drew a walk and stole a base. Becker also drew a walk and both base runners put themselves in scoring position after stealing. Chamberlain struck out and Greis ended the threat grounding out straight back to Rodriguez 100 off the bat who flipped back to Moran for the final out. 

6 | The top of the sixth saw Waldeck stay in the game for the Foresters. Waldeck faced three Blues with Comerford grounding out to third, Becker grounding out to first, and Murillo striking out. The bottom of the sixth saw the Foresters score their first run of the game off one hit and one walk. Farr came to the plate and drew a walk. Newstrom flew out to left. Rutenbar also drew a walk to have to base runners. Nelson struck out. Ippolito was able to open the door for the Foresters after Farr stole third hitting a single up the middle scoring Farr. Janusek ended the inning for the Foresters grounding out to Comerford at third.

7 | Waldeck stayed in the game in the seventh and only faced three batters. Moran was the first batter faced with a splintering 104 single into right. Ashlock ended the threat grounding out to first with Moran not being able to get back for the unassisted double play. Suzuki ended the inning flying out to center. Brent Gallegos entered the game for the Blues in the seventh. Becker led off the seventh drawing a walk. Chamberlain struck out, Greis flew out to left, and Farr struck out to end the inning.

8 | Waldeck came in for his fourth inning of work in the eighth. Gonzalez grounded out to first, Chavez grounded out to short, and Mador grounded out to second. Gallegos came back out for the Blues in the eighth and he faced two batters before Dean Treanor took a visit to the mound. He faced Newstrom who struck out looking but was followed by Rutenbar hitting a single into right. This prompted a visit by Treanor who went to the pen for Chance Jasso. Jasso struck out the first batter he faced, Nelson. Ippolito drew a walk but Janusek struck out to end the inning.

9 | The Blues saw Chance Jasso stay in the close the game. Becker was the first batter he faced and he flew out to right for the first out. Caleb Hoover came in to pinch hit for Chamberlain and he drew a walk. Joseph Sandusky came in to pinch run for Hoover. Greis hit a double into right center that sent Hoover running home but was tagged out by Mador for the second out of the inning. Farr drew a walk and Newstrom reached on a catcher's interference call to load the bases. With the bases juiced Rutenbar came to the plate. Jasso forced Rutenbar to ground out to second for the force out to end the game.