Roundup Of 2021 Summer Collegiate Champs

by • Featured Stories

WICHITA, Kan. — The Santa Barbara Foresters captured their ninth National Baseball Congress World Series with a 14-2 win over Lonestar Baseball of Texas.

The Foresters, who won 21 straight games to end the summer, rolled through the NBC World Series with a 5-0 record and outscored opponents, 52-11.

Santa Barbara was dominating in all facets of the game as the Foresters led the tournament in ERA (1.50), team batting average (.350) and fielding percentage (.976). They also swiped 19 bases to lead the tournament.

The Foresters defended their national title from a year ago, and it marked the second time in history Santa Barbara has gone back-to-back with another in 2011 and 2012.

For a team this dominant, it may come as a surprise that Santa Barbara began the season with a 15-7 record and losses in four of six games at one point.

Veteran Manager Bill Pintard had a meeting with the team, and the Foresters never lost the rest of the summer as they rolled to a 36-7 overall record.

The organization now has titles in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021.   

Santa Barbara starter Ben Abram (redshirt sophomore at Oklahoma) capped off one of the finest pitching seasons ever for a Forester, earning his seventh win with five innings of one-run ball in the title game.

Another Foresters’ pitcher, Justin Eckhardt (redshirt freshman at Texas), was named the MVP of the tournament thanks to his 12 scoreless innings and two wins.

In the fifth inning, the Foresters sent 12 men to the plate and pushed across 6 runs with seven hits. They added four runs in the latter innings.

The Foresters had remarkable talent on offense as they had five different players hit home runs during the tournament in Seth Stephenson (Tennessee), Dylan Campbell (Texas), Andrew Kachel (Fresno State), Zach Leach (Arkansas) and Steve Zobac (California).

To read about 33 more summer collegiate league champions, purchase the Sept. 3, 2021 edition of Collegiate Baseball or subscribe by CLICKING HERE.