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W E DN E S DAY, J U LY 8 , 2 0 2 0
It’s not Moneyball for McLain Foresters’ star turned down big payday from Diamondbacks to play for UCLA By GERRY FALL NEWS-PRESS staff writer
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att McLain has a lot of confidence in his ability to play baseball. That was evident when he turned down the Arizona Diamondbacks out of high school two years ago. McLain, a two-time prep All-American at Beckman High in Irvine, was the firstround pick (25th overall) of the Diamondbacks in 2018. With the chance at pocketing significant money and launching his professional career, McLain, instead, opted to attend UCLA on a baseball scholarship. It’s the road he’s traveled so far to get to Santa Barbara, where he is the starting shortstop for Bill Pintard’s Foresters. “It takes a lot of courage to do it,” Pintard said of turning down a first-round offer. “We’re really fortunate to have him. He was probably going to play for Team USA this summer before they shut down because of COVID. Matt turned down the Diamondbacks and probably figures he can do better than the 25th overall pick coming out of UCLA.” After starting 60 of 61 games as a true freshman in 2019, McLain was off to a tremendous start to his sophomore campaign at UCLA before everything was done in by the coronavirus in early March. He was hitting .397 with four home runs in 58 at-bats over 13 games and was one of the reasons the Bruins, who were 13-2 when the season was cancelled, were ranked No. 2 in the nation. While it has always been his dream to play Major League Baseball, McLain said turning down the Diamondbacks and opting to go to UCLA was not a difficult decision. “Everything will take care of itself in the end, I’m not really worried about that,” he said. “UCLA has always been my dream ever since I was a kid. I would always go to the football games and the baseball games, and to get that opportunity to go out there and play for UCLA, play at Jackie Robinson Stadium against some of the best teams in the country in the Pac-12, I couldn’t resist that offer.” Growing up in Tustin made it easy for McLain to attend UCLA sporting events.
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
COVID-19 testing continues these days at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.
Coming up short
COVID-19 tests become increasingly backed up during spike in SB County By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
A GERRY FALL/NEWS-PRESS PHOTO
Matt McLain, an All-America shortstop at UCLA, is one of five Bruins playing for the Foresters this year.
Today, there doesn’t seem to be a shred of regret in his decision to put his professional baseball career on hold. McLain is as athletic and as talented with a bat in his hand as you’ll find anywhere in the country on the collegiate level. He says he looks forward to his professional career and claims he doesn’t look back at the decision he made to go to UCLA. “It was an easy decision because I knew what I wanted from the start,” he said. “Academics are also important to me, which was another reason I chose to go to UCLA. I want to get my schoolwork in and get my baseball work in, and go from there.” McLain is one of five Bruins on this year’s Foresters team. Because of COVID-19, there is no Cape Cod League season, nor is there a Team USA campaign. It
meant a lot of talent was floating out there for Pintard and his staff to grab, and McLain says he’s happy he has a team on which to play this summer, given the circumstances. “So many places have been shut down, so many summer leagues have been shut down, and to get the chance to go out there and play, especially in Santa Barbara with the Foresters and coach Pintard, I feel very fortunate,” he said. “It’s been an awesome experience so far, and I look forward to getting out there every single day and getting the chance to play.” McLain had a sacrifice fly and stole two bases to help lead Santa Barbara to an 8-2 win over the Texas Express on Tuesday night at Pershing Park. McLain’s UCLA teammate, former SBCC star Pat Caulfield,
had the big night for the Foresters. Caulfield finished 3-for-3 at the plate, scored three runs and stole four bases. He stole second, third and home in the third inning, when Santa Barbara jumped on top, 2-0. Former Santa Barbara High standout Bryce Warrecker pitched a perfect eighth inning in relief. Warrecker is headed to Cal Poly on a baseball scholarship. After Texas tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, the Foresters regained the lead with two in the bottom of the inning. Santa Barbara (5-1) then put the game away with two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. The two teams resume their five-game series tonight at Pershing Park at 6 p.m. No spectators are allowed. email: gfall@newspress.com
Goleta Council OKs small business assistance By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STaff writer
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he Goleta City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve COVID-19 small business assistance programs in order to help Goleta-based businesses during the current pandemic. The first assistance program is a combined effort by the city of Goleta and the Women’s Economic Ventures to fund the ReStart Loan Program and the Small Business Basic Loan Program. The city approved an appropriation of $200,000 to fund the creation of the small business loan programs. The city also teamed up with the Santa Barbara Foundation to create the Santa Barbara Better Together Fund, which would
approve a $50,000 appropriation from the general unassigned fund to help fund the new program. “It is the first step in helping our businesses and our community recover from the effects of COVID19,” Neighborhood Services and Public Safety Director Vyto Adomaitis said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “COVID-19 still has a long way to go, but this more accurately reflects the needs of businesses we believe they have now and what they’re going to be needing in the future,” Jamie Valdez, principal project manager, added. Both programs are meant to aid Goleta-based businesses that have been unable to secure any additional help from either federal or other state or local grants or loans. “As we know, these are two
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the city would have the right, at any time, to terminate the agreement. The language was revised to say that only the city council has the right to terminate the agreement for whatever reason may occur. “We don’t have a crystal ball. We don’t know what five years is going to look like. We may change the program dramatically within the same organization, but we should have the latitude to do it and we’re not going to have it unless we have a termination clause. I would hope we keep that with the understanding that it’s us that can change it and only us,” councilmember Roger Aceves said. Other items at the meeting included the city celebrating having declared July 2020 as National Parks And Recreation month in Goleta. Please see GOLETA on A8
Supervisors deny appeal for helipad By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STaff writer
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he Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to deny an appeal from local millionaire and hotelier Pat Nesbitt, who requested a conditional use permit and coastal development permit to build a helipad on his private property located at 2800 Via Real Lane. With a 3-2 vote, the board voted to uphold the Planning Commission’s decision from November 2019 denying his request for a permit. According to the board letter from Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Nesbitt initially proposed building two helicopter landing zones on a 10-acre grass field on his property located in the Summerland/Carpinteria area. Prior to the project’s initial hearing before the Planning Commission on September 25, 2019, the hotel owner altered the project by reducing the number of helipads from two to one. He also reduced the landing pad’s
initial hours of operation of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. After instructing its staff to return with findings for denial, the Planning Commission made the required findings and denied the project at a hearing on November 7. Mr. Nesbitt then submitted a timely appeal on November 15. His appeal made four main allegations: That the commission’s denial of the project was inconsistent with the provisions and purposes of the County’s zoning ordinances; that the commission’s denial wasn’t based on substantial evidence; that the commission didn’t consider the evidence in support he put forth for consideration; and that the project didn’t receive a fair and impartial hearing. Reasons County staff cited for why the helipad shouldn’t be built included incompatibility with surrounding residential areas; loud noises of helicopters potentially startling horses on nearby equestrian trails, thereby Please see HELIPAD on A8
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organizations, the Santa Barbara Foundation and Women’s Economic Ventures, that are well respected in the community. They do good work and they’ve made a huge difference and impact for our residents,” Mayor Pro Tempore Kyle Richards said. “I applaud the city and those organizations for coming up with these just collaborations. I think this is a good thing for our community.” While there were some contentions, many of the councilmembers said that the need to get these assistance programs approved Tuesday was vital to help many businesses that need it right away. One of the major concerns in the language had to do with the termination clause. Originally, the clause in both programs stated that
s Santa Barbara County sees a spike in coronavirus cases, testing sites have been booked solid, some requiring a wait of a week to two weeks. Between the requirements of booking an appointment, acquiring a referral and patient prioritization, the process of being tested for COVID-19 has become increasingly difficult, especially for those without symptoms. As of Tuesday, the county reported 87 new positive cases, bringing the total amount of cases to 3,742. There were 27 new positive cases in the city of Santa Barbara, eight in Goleta, 26 in Santa Maria and nine in Lompoc. In addition, Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria reported two new cases; Goleta
Valley and Gaviota 2; Orcutt 4; and the areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and Guadalupe 2. There were no new cases at the federal prison in Lompoc, along with no new cases in Isla Vista or the Santa Ynez Valley. There are now 432 active cases of COVID-19 in the county. Centers in the county, such as American Medical Response in Buellton, Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, SLO Vets Hall in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria Fairpark and others cannot take COVID-19 testing appointments until July 17. Other state sites under OptumServe Federal Health Services may have availability sooner, but are located as far as Wasco, Arvin and Rosamond, CA. In addition, the state of California’s other testing partner, Verily, does not provide any testing sites in Santa Barbara Please see testing on A2
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A7
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-6-10-20-41 Meganumber: 8
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 0-8-5-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 16-20-25-30-43 Meganumber: 18
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 14-22-23-29-32
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-02-08 Time: 1:48.74
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 16-21-27-60-61 Meganumber: 6
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 8-4-7 / Tuesday’s Midday 0-0-3