Flora Flourishes, Gaucho Go National and More Sports
Despite a No. 1 seed earned over the course of the full Big West conference season, UCSB’s Gaucho baseball team failed to capture the tournament, falling in successive games after an opening day victory and forfeiting the automatic berth to the NCAA national tourney. But don’t blame Jackson Flora.
The righty flamethrowing pitcher added to his sterling season, which boasted a nation’s best earned run average of .7 (meaning he gave up less than a run per nine innings), gaudy strikeout totals to top a 10-0 won-loss regular record, surrendering just three hits and a solitary run against Cal State Fullerton in the opening game. That came on the heels of his final effort at home a week earlier, when he opened with seven perfect innings on his way to a two-hit, no walk 1-0 shutout of UC Riverside. (The perfect game going *poof* might have been my fault, as your faithful correspondent broke the unwritten code of never mentioning a no-hitter or perfect game while it’s happening, worse yet while chatting with scouts for Baltimore and the Yankees, maybe 120’ from Flora on the mound. Oops.)
Fortunately, the Gauchos still got an at-large bid to the NCAA regionals, and are headed to Austin to face Tarleton State (who?) on Friday, May 29, when we’ll most likely see (at least on ESPN2) more Flora fireworks and finesse, with the pitcher on his way to a likely draft slot in the Top 5 come July. No. 6 Texas is probably the Gauchos’ biggest hurdle in the tourney. By the way, maybe losing the Big West tournament was a blessing in disguise, as the winner Cal Poly will now have to face No. 1 UCLA in Westwood to advance.
And speaking of the Bruins, earlier in May we got to see their shortstop, the consensus No. 1 draft pick Roch Cholowsky, launch a mammoth home in his first at bat against the Gauchos at UCSB, a high arcing rocket that some observers said looked like it might hit the construction working on the new dorms past left field. We’ll be seeing him in the big leagues before too long, too. On the other hand, maybe Flora’s battery-mate catcher Nate Vargas crushing a pitch that almost hit his own picture on the gleaming new scoreboard in right field (incidentally notching the only run in the May 21 game) might have been even more impressive. The fans sure loved it.
What a World (Cup)
Did you know that two of the 64 national soccer teams have chosen Santa Barbara-adjacent locations to hunker down and train for the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Until just this week, there hasn’t been a lot of buzz, but the Austrian National Soccer Team, aka Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft, will practice at UCSB’s Harder Stadium and stay at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara throughout the tournament, while Qatar’s team will congregate at Westmont College’s facilities; although that entourage is also staying out in Goleta at the Courtyard by Marriotton Storke Road.
Our tiny burg is once again overstepping its size by hosting two of the teams that will compete for the coveted cup in the quadrennial tournament – the biggest sporting event in the world. The dearth of excitement is about to change. At least as far as Goleta and the Austrian team are concerned.
The team will hold a practice session on June 5 offering limited public viewing, with about 2,500 tickets being distributed for the 17,000-seat Harder Stadium venue, with priority going to local soccer clubs and community partners. The restrictions are due to security and strategic concerns. The event comes just over a week before Austria takes on Switzerland on June 13 in San Francisco. More opportunities to interact with the team may come later.
But Goleta is also getting into the World Cup spirit in a couple of different ways. The city is hanging red-and-black banners all over Old Town featuring Team Austria’s Roman eagle logo and a cheer in German and English (Aug geht’s, burschen!; Let’s go, laddies!), and also throwing open the Community Center for a block-party style community watch event on June 12 for the United States National Team opening match against Paraguay in Los Angeles.
In addition to a livestream of the game projected in the auditorium, there will be family-friendly World Cup-themed activities, plus free tacos and burritos from Don Pepe’s Mexican Food. Similar events are scheduled for June 17 and June 24 in Old Town Goleta. Another watch party with local vendors and more for the Team Mexico game against Czechia in Mexico City on June 24 will be held in the parking lot of Community West Bank at Pine Avenue in Old Town.
With prices for tickets for the U.S. match soaring into five figures and beyond, those may be the best bets for community viewing of World Cup matches. No word yet about any Qatar team events open to the public in Montecito, nor watch parties in the village or even Santa Barbara.
Volleyball Dollies and Dudes
The popular “King and Queen of East” community volleyball tournament is set for Saturday, June 13, at East Beach, one-time Home Sand for such legendary beach volleyball superstars as Olympic gold medal winners Karch Kiraly and Todd Rogers. Now in its 18th year, the tourney morphed a few years ago from a men’s-only Father’s Day tournament – held on the Saturday before the day for daddies every year – into an all genders event, which this year takes place one weekend early due to the Solstice Celebration occupying the June 19-21 weekend. What makes the event unique is a format that combines the individual winners and runners-up of each gendered tournament for a final co-ed match – the King pairs with the second-place woman, and Queen pairs with the runner-up in the men’s tourney.
The tourney has become more competitive over the years, which is part of what makes it even more enjoyable for people who just want to watch. Still more fun shines through the parties on both June 12 (pre-event, so don’t drink too much) and June 13, when winners can celebrate and losers commiserate; both at Seven Bar, 235 W. Montecito Street, which used to be located in the Funk Zone but relocated to the space vacated by The Neighborhood.
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