Manhart/KV 11, Fair Oaks 4 (League: 0-0, Overall: 0-1) - May 24 @ William Land Park - It wasn't exactly the way the Oaks hoped the season would open, but Fair Oaks Post 383 had to endure a season-opening loss to Manhart/KV (formerly known as Kennedy-Valley) 11-4 in the Memorial Day Tournament at William Land Park May 24.     Manhart pounded Fair Oaks pitching for 15 hits, driving starter Rick Ryan from the game in the third inning in favor of Dave Yurchak.
    Manhart scored three runs in each of the first three innings to take a 9-1 lead. Fair Oaks' only run in the early innings came in the second as Russ Beldi was hit by a pitch and then doubled home by Nick Palumbo, who had three hits on the day.
    The Oaks closed the score to 9-4 in the fourth as Palumbo reached base on an error by the third baseman with one out. Chris Rhines was hit by a pitch to put two runners on and then Bryan Lynch singled to score Palumbo for a 9-2 game.
    Rick Patel singled to load the bases and then a walk to Yurchak forced in Rhines to make it a 9-3 score. The Oaks' final run scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Matt Blanford to score Lynch and make it 9-4.
    Manhart scored two more runs in the top of the seventh for the final 11-4 tally. Palumbo's double in the second inning and a double by Eric Archuleta were the Oaks' only extra-base hits on the day.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
MANHART/KV	3	3	3	0	0	0	2	11	15	3
FAIR OAKS	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	8	1

Manhart/KV: Gatlin, Luis (5), Domich (6), August (7) and Bailey. Top hitters: Olivar 2x3, 3B; Domich 2x5, 2B, 3 RBI; Evans 2x4, 3 RBI; Bailey 3x3, 3B.
Fair Oaks: Ryan, Yurchak (3) and Palumbo. Top hitters: Palumbo 3x4, 2B; Archuleta, 2B.

Fair Oaks 2, Auburn 1 (League: 0-0, Overall: 1-1) - May 25 @ William Land Park - In a stark contrast to their game the day before, the Fair Oaks "Oaks" waged a defensive battle against Auburn in their second game of the Memorial Day Tournament at William Land Park.

Pitcher Russ Beldi sends a pitch toward home in the Oaks' tournament game against Auburn May 25 at William Land Park.

    Auburn scored one run in the opening inning off Post 383 starter Russ Beldi, but that would be all they would get the rest of the way as Fair Oaks went on for a 2-1 victory.
    In the second inning, Oaks' designated hitter Nick Palumbo started things off with a double to center field. Palumbo moved to second on third baseman Justin Hoppes' ground ball to short and then advanced to third on a slow roller to third by first baseman Jim Ott. The ball was booted and both runners were safe.
    With two outs, left fielder Sean Chopelas doubled to center to score both runners for a 2-1 Fair Oaks lead.
    The Oaks' defense took over the rest of the game with several key plays, including a play at the plate in the sixth inning that could have saved the game for the Oaks'.
    After a double followed a leadoff hit, center fielder B.J. Crone pegged a throw back to the infield to shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder, with Schoenfelder in turn relaying the ball to catcher Brad Hicks for the out at the plate.
    Relief pitcher Brandon Olson, who had replaced starter Russ Beldi on the mound the previous inning, then gave up a hit to short center field to put runners at first and third with one out.
    The next batter, however, lined a shot back to the mound that Olson caught in what had to be a purely reflexive action. After briefly juggling the ball, Olson held on and threw to first to double the runner off and end the inning.
    Auburn managed another hit in the top of the seventh with two out, but a chopper back to the pitcher ended the game and gave Fair Oaks its first victory of the tourney.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
AUBURN	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
FAIR OAKS	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1

Auburn: Bartsch and Tomich. Top hitters: Bartsch 2x3; Thompkins 2B.
Fair Oaks: Beldi, Olson (5) and Hicks. Top hitters: Archuleta 2B; Palumbo 2B; Hicks 2B; Chopelas 2B.

Fair Oaks 11, Napa 2 (League: 0-0, Overall: 2-1) - May 25 @ William Land Park - Fair Oaks bats awoke in the third game of the Memorial Day Tournament as the Oaks pounded Napa for 16 hits in an 11-2 victory.
    The Oaks got starting pitcher Adam Moskofsky a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a double to right field.
    Crone took third on third basemanEric Archuleta's hit to right and then scored on shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder's sacrifice fly to right field.
    Two more runs scored in the third inning as Rick Patel led off with a double. Crone followed with a ground out and then Archuleta got a hit to left to send Patel to third. With Schoenfelder at the plate, a balk brought home Patel and then Schoenfelder drew a walk.
    First baseman Jim Ott then got a hit to left to load the bases and right fielder Brad Rhines' fly to right scored Archuleta for a 3-0 lead.
    Napa got its first run of the game in the fifth on a pair of doubles, but the Oaks came right back in the bottom of the inning for three more runs.
    Schoenfelder led off the inning with a double to right center but was erased when Ott's bunt resulted in the throw to third. Ott scored, however, as Rhines tripled to right for a 4-1 lead and then a double by Bryan Lynch scored Rhines to make it 5-1.
    The final run of the inning scored with two outs as center fielder Rick Ryan beat out a bunt toward third. Lynch to crossed the plate for a 6-1 advantage.
    Napa went out in order in the top of the sixth and Fair Oaks came back for a five run outburst in the bottom of the inning.
    Crone led off with a triple to center and was driven home by Archuleta's fly to center. Schoenfelder followed with a hit to left and with Ott at the plate a wild pitch advanced Schoenfelder to third. Both Ott and Rhines walked to load the bases and then Lynch's hit down the left field line scored Schoenfelder and Ott for a 9-1 lead.
    Designated hitter Sean Chopelas made it 11-1 with a hit up the middle that scored Rhines and Lynch. Ryan followed with a walk, but the next two batters recorded outs to end the inning.
    Napa managed one run in the top of the seventh for the final 11-2 tally. The win sent Fair Oaks into Monday's championship game against Stockton.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NAPA	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	7	1
FAIR OAKS	1	0	2	0	3	5	0	11	16	1

Napa: Nicoam, Fraizer (6) and Martin. Top hitters: Skinner 2B; Fraizer 2B.
Fair Oaks: Moskofsky and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2B, 3B; Lynch 2 2B, 3 RBI; Schoenfelder 2B; Chopelas 2 RBI; Rhines 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 5, Stockton 2 (League: 0-0, Overall: 3-1) - May 26 @ William Land Park - Despite a shaky start by starter Jim Ott, the Fair Oaks Oaks battled for a 5-2 victory over Stockton in the Memorial Day Tournament in Land Park.
Fair Oaks went down in order in the top of the first inning, failing to get the ball out of the infield, but Ed Stewart of Stockton came back in the bottom of the inning to put a scare into the Fair Oaks faithful as two walks, a hit and an error resulted in runners on second and third with two out.

Eric Archuleta dives back into first base on a pickoff attempt in the fifth inning of Fair Oaks' championship game against Stockton in the Memorial Day Tournament at Land Park.

    Fortunately for the Oaks, the second out came on a steal attempt as catcher Brad Hicks pegged a perfect throw to second baseman Eric Archuleta for the out, erasing the lead runner - Ott's first walk. After a hit to left, an error on third baseman Justin Hoppes on a ground ball resulted in the runners reaching second and third.
    Ott walked the next batter to load the bases, but then got a ground out to end the inning and escape unscathed.
    In the Fair Oaks second, a two out double by first baseman Russ Beldi was wasted after Beldi got picked off to end the inning.
    Stockton also had its chances in the bottom of the inning, but could not score and despite base runners in both halves of the third, the game remained knotted at 0-0.
    Fair Oaks finally broke the ice in the fourth inning with one out as Chris Rhines reached base on an error. Bryan Lynch followed with a hit and then Beldi's hit to left scored Rhines for a 1-0 game.
    Brad Hicks then hit a ball to short which was relayed to second for the out, but Hicks made it safely to first to avoid the double play, with Lynch landing on third.
    With Hoppes at the plate, Hicks and Lynch executed a deleayed double steal, with Hicks going to second and then Lynch charging home to score and make it a 2-0 Fair Oaks lead.
    Stockton came back to load the bases with one out but could not score as Ott struck out the next batter and got the next hitter to ground out.
    Fair Oaks padded its lead to 3-0 in the fifth as B.J. Crone got a one out walk. Archuleta's hit to center sent Crone to third and then Garrett Schoenfelder flew to left allowing Crone to tag and score.
    Stockton came back for two runs in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 3-2 as three consecutive hits chased Ott off the mound in favor of Schoenfelder. But that's all they would get as the Oaks held them scoreless the rest of the way.
    Fair Oaks wasn't through, however, as two more runs came home in the top of the seventh. With one out, Hoppes walked and moved to third on Matt Blanford's double to right center.
    Crone was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Schoenfelder walked to force in Hoppes with two outs. The final run scored as Dave Yurchak was hit by a pitch to force Blanford in for the final 5-2 tally.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	5	5	2
STOCKTON	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	9	1

Fair Oaks: Ott, Schoenfelder (5) and Hicks. Top hitters: Beldi 2x3, 2B.
Stockton: Mesa, Arceo (6) and Hall.

Fair Oaks 13, Charles Eggen 4 (League: 0-0, Overall: 4-1) - May 29 @ Bella Vista High - Despite Charles Eggen jumping out to a 4-0 lead off starting pitcher Brandon Olson in the first inning, Fair Oaks came back to blank Eggen the rest of the way for a 13-4 victory at Bella Vista High School.

Sean Chopelas slides into second base during the second inning of Post 383's game with Charles Eggen. Chopelas reached first on a hit to right and took second on a passed ball later in the inning.

    Eggen scored its four runs on two walks and four hits, despite a double play by the Oaks' defense in the early going.
    Olson settled down after the first inning, getting the side out in order in the second. The Oaks came back to score one run in the bottom of the inning as left fielder Sean Chopelas got a hit to right with one out. With second baseman Rick Patel at the plate, Chopelas stole second and then Patel hit a ball toward second that took a bad hop over the infield and Chopelas scored to make it 4-1.
    Jim Ott came in to pitch in the third, blanking Eggen and then the Oaks came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning as Ott bunted for a hit to lead off.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder followed with a home run deep to center field to make it 4-3 and catcher Nick Palumbo followed with a double to right field.
    Palumbo went to third on a ground out and then scored on Chopelas' grounder to short, tying the game at 4-4.
    Three more runs came home in the fourth as Russ Beldi led off with a hit to right. Unfortuantely, Beldi and the next batter B. J. Crone, were erased on a double play.
    Ott then walked, followed by a Schoenfelder hit to left. Palumbo then doubled to left to score Ott and a Justin Hoppes hit to center scored both Schoenfelder and Palumbo for a 7-4 game.
    Adam Moskofsky came in to pitch the fifth, downing Eggen in order, and the Oaks came back in the bottom of the fifth for another run on doubles by Eric Archuleta and Beldi.
    Moskofsky sent Eggen down in order again in the sixth and the Oaks scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 10-4 lead.
    Schoenfelder led off with his second home run of the game and then with one out, Brad Hicks walked. Dave Yurchak bunted Hicks to second, with the throw to first going wide and Hicks moving to third.
    With Archuleta at the plate, a wild pitch scored Hicks to make it 10-4,     Beldi came in to pitch the seventh, allowing one walk, but the runner was erased on a double play as he was doubled off first on a fly to center.
    The Oaks added another run in the seventh as Beldi and Crone reached on an consecutive errors and then with two outs, Crone scored on Schoenfelder's double to center.
    Eggen again went down in order in the eighth, with the Oaks scoring their final two runs in the bottom of the inning.
    Back-to-back walks to Hicks and Yurchak started the inning and Archuleta's hit to right scored Hicks. Beldi then sent a ball toward short, but the throw to first was high and Yurchak scored to make it 13-4.
    yurchak pitched the ninth for the Oaks and Eggen again went out in order as Fair Oaks recorded the 13-4 win.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	1	3	3	1	2	1	2	0	13	15	0
CHAS. EGGEN	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	6	4

Charles Eggen: Hensley, Grader (4), Parks (6), Dunn (8) and Espinosa. Top hitters: Dunn 2B, 2 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Olson, Ott (3), Moshofsky (5), Beldi (7), Yurchak (9) and Palumbo, Hicks (6). Top hitters: Schoenfelder 4x5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Palumbo 2x3, 2 2B; Hoppes 2 RBI; Archuleta 2x3, 2B; Beldi 3x4, 2B.

Fair Oaks 11, Yolo 9 (League: 1-0, Overall: 5-1) - June 5 @ Bella Vista High - After suffering a rainout in their opening game of the regular season, Post 383 faced Yolo at Bella Vista High School for their first league encounter of the year.
    Overcoming a 1-0 Yolo lead in the second, Fair Oaks scored four runs in both the third and fourth innings en route to a 11-9 victory.
    The Oaks gave starting pitcher Garrett Schoenfelder a 4-1 lead as catcher B.J. Crone led off the third with a walk. Second baseman Jim Ott followed with a hit to right center, sending Crone to third. Schoenfelder aided his own cause with a triple to right that scored both Crone and Ott, and then scored as the throw in went out of play giving the Oaks a 3-1 lead.
    First baseman Nick Palumbo followed with a grounder to third, but reached base safely as a high throw resulted in an error. Palumbo took second on the play. With two outs, left fielder Sean Chopelas got a hit to right to score Palumbo to make it a 4-1 game.
    Yolo came back with a run in the top of the fourth, but Fair Oaks scored twice more in the bottom of the inning for a 6-2 advantage.
    Center fielder Matt Blanford reached base on a shot up the middle that was knocked down, but no play was made. Crone and Ott followed with a walks to load the bases and then Schoenfelder's smash to third scored Blanford for a 5-2 game.
    Schoenfelder was thrown out on a steal attempt for the second out of the inning, but Palumbo followed with a hit to left to score Crone and make it 6-2.
    Yolo led off the fifth with a hit and a two-run homer to left to bring the score to 8-4 and added another two-run homer in the sixth to trail by a score of 8-6.
    Fair Oaks extended its lead in the bottom of the sixth as Ott led off with bad hop hit to left. Schoenfelder then doubled to center to score Ott for a 9-6 lead. Dave Yurchak bunted Schoenfelder to third and Justin Hoppes reached base after getting hit by a pitch.
    Chris Rhines then hit a slow roller to second. Hoppes was tagged out, but Rhines reached safely and Schoenfelder scored to make it 10-6.
    Bryan Lynch followed with a hit by third base and Adam Moshofsky, who had come in the previous inning to pitch, walked.
    With Blanford at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Rhines to come in and score, making it an 11-6 Fair Oaks lead.
    Yolo came back in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs on three hits, an error, and a walk off reliever Brandon Olson to make it an 11-9 game. Ott came in to pitch with two outs and used only one pitch to record the final out as the batter grounded to short for a force play at second.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
YOLO	0	1	0	1	2	2	3	9	16	3
FAIR OAKS	0	0	4	4	0	3	-	11	11	3

Yolo: Grant, Reitz (4), Rowland (7) and Fricke. Top hitters: Pinegar 2B; Torcato 4x5, 2HR, 5 RBI; Kowes 2x4; Pedoria 3x5, 2 RBI; Milsap, 2x4, HR; Strand 2x4.
Fair Oaks: Schoenfelder, Moshofsky (6), Olson (7), Ott (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Ott 2x3; Schoenfelder 2x4, 2B, 4 RBI; Palumbo 2x3; Hoppes HR, 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 15, Charles Eggen 8 (League: 2-0, Overall: 6-1) - June 7 @ Bella Vista High - Pounding Charles Eggen 15-8, the Fair Oaks Oaks went to 2-0 in league play and remained on top of the American Legion's Eastern Division.
Although the game was played at Bella Vista High School, Eggen was the home team as the contest had originally been scheduled for Eggen's home field of Mira Loma High.

Left fielder Bryan Lynch slides into second on a second inning steal against Charles Eggen early in the Oaks' 15-8 victory. Lynch reached base on a hit to right field before the steal.

    Fair Oaks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as center fielder B.J. Crone led off with a hit to right. Crone stole second with second baseman Jim Ott at the plate and took third on Ott's grounder back to the mound. With right fielder Jason Wilkerson at the plate, Crone scored on a passed ball for a 1-0 lead.
    Wilkerson got a hit to left and moved to second on a wild pitch with first baseman Nick Palumbo at the plate. Palumbo popped out for the second out of the inning, but a wild pitch with pitcher Russ Beldi at the plate moved Wilkerson to third. Beldi walked, sending shortstop Eric Archuleta to the plate. Archuleta was hit by a pitch and then Eggen's pitcher tried picking Beldi off second, but the throw went into center field allowing Wilkerson to score for a 2-0 lead.
    Charles Eggen came back for one run in the bottom of the inning, but Fair Oaks added to its lead in the second with a seven run outburst.
    Consecutive hits by Bryan Lynch and Brad Hicks led to the first run as Lynch scored on a wild pitch with Crone at the plate.
    Crone also got a hit, followed by Ott's three-run homer to right center to make it a 6-1 game. Wilkerson followed with a walk and moved to third on a Palumbo hit to right.
    Wilkerson and Palumbo scored on Beldi's homer to left center, making it a 9-1 Fair Oaks lead and driving Eggen's starting pitcher from the game. After a strikeout, three of the next four batters walked to load the bases, but Eggen avoided further damage as Ott struck out to end the inning.
    Eggen came back in the second to score five runs, bringing the run tally to 9-6, but Fair Oaks added a run to tis totals in the top of the third for a 10-6 lead.
    Eggen answered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning, prompting a Beldi to Brandon Olson pitching change. Olson got the next three batters out and then Fair Oaks extended its lead in the fourth as Olson doubled with one out and scored on a Wilkerson hit to left with two outs.
    Eggen made it 11-8 with a single run in the bottom of the fourth, but Fair Oaks scored three times in the fifth for a 14-8 advantage.
    Beldi led off with a walk and moved to third on Archuleta's double to center. With Hoppes at the plate, a wild pitch scored Beldi and then Archuleta scored on Hoppes' ball to third that was booted, making it a 13-8 game. Two wild pitches with Lynch at the plate moved Hoppes to third and he scored on Lynch's ground ball to short for a 14-8 lead.
    Neither team scored again until the top of the ninth when the Oaks brought home their final run on a Palumbo homer to left to make it 15-8. Palumbo had been robbed earlier in the game on a towering shot to left that cleared the fence fair, but curved foul before landing. The home plate umpire called it a foul ball.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	2	7	1	1	3	0	0	0	1	15	13	2
CHAS. EGGEN	1	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	8	13	2

Fair Oaks: Beldi, Olson (3) and Hicks, Palumbo (3). Top hitters: Crone 2x4; Ott HR, 3 RBI; Wilkerson 2x3, 2 RBI; Palumbo 2x6, HR; Beldi HR, 4 RBI; Archuleta 2x5, 2B; Olson 2B.
Charles Eggen: Top hitters: Olson 4x5, 2B; Comstock 3x3, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Penso 3x5, 2B; Dunn 2B; Robinson 2B.

Elk Grove 8, Fair Oaks 5 (League: 2-1, Overall: 6-2) - June 8 @ Bella Vista High - Fair Oaks suffered its first loss of the league season as Elk Grove upset the Oaks at Bella Vista High School, 8-5.
Fair Oaks scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning as second baseman Jim Ott started things off getting hit by a pitch with one out.

Garrett Schoenfelder slides into third after a hit up the middle in Fair Oaks game against Elk Grove. Teammate Jim Ott scored on the play and Schoenfelder took third on the throw to the plate.

    Ott moved to second on a ground ball to second by shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder and then scored on right fielder Jason Wilkerson's hit up the middle for a 1-0 lead.
    Elk Grove evened things up in the top of the second on a double and error and then took a 4-1 lead in the third off starting pitcher Adam Moshofsky on four hits, including a double.
    Fair Oaks gave up another run in the sixth on a one out double, followed by a single to right, but pulled back to within one run in the bottom of the inning, 5-4.
    B.J. Crone led off with a double to right and scored on Ott's hit to right. Ott scored on a hit up the middle by Garrett Schoenfelder and then Wilkerson's double to left scored Schoenfelder to make it a 5-4 contest.
    Elk Grove came back for a run in the top of the seventh, however, prompting a pitching change as Ott switched from second to the mound. Ott got out of the inning with no further damage and the Oaks appeared set to make a run at the lead as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with two outs as Crone was hit by a pitch, Schoenfelder reached on an error and Wilkerson walked. The next batter, however, struck out to end the inning.
    Elk Grove added a run in the eighth for an 8-4 lead and Fair Oaks closed out the scoring in the ninth with a single run.
    Crone led off with a double to center field that bounced over the fence. With one out, Schoenfelder drew a walk, and then with two outs, a Beldi hit to center scored Crone to make it an 8-5 game. Ricky Patel was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but the next batter flew out to left field to end the inning and the Oaks' chance to keep their unbeaten league record intact.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
ELK GROVE	0	1	3	0	0	1	0	3	0	8	13	1
FAIR OAKS	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	5	9	5

Elk Grove: Fender, Forsyth (7) and Hill. Top hitters: Rose 2B, 2 RBI; Hill 2x4; McIntyre 2x4, 2 2B; Fender 2x4; Snyder 2x4.
Fair Oaks: Moshofsky, Ott (7) and Hicks, Crone (9). Top hitters: Crone 2x4, 2 2B; Ott 2x3; Schoenfelder 2B; Wilkerson 2x4, 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 12, West Sacramento 3 (League: 3-1, Overall: 7-2) - June 9 @ Bella Vista High - Rebounding from their loss the previous day, the Fair Oaks Oaks pounded West Sacramento 12-3 to improve their record to 3-1 in the American Legion District 6's Eastern Division.
    The Oaks received an impressive pitching performance from Ryan Reed, who moved up from Fair Oaks' Jr. Legion team the week before. Reed struggled at times, but when needed, he got the outs. He worked out of several tight situations and struck out 10 batters, including seven of the last eight batters he faced.
    Fair Oaks went up 2-0 in the top of the first inning as the "visiting team" -- the game was originally scheduled for Renfree Field as West Sacramento's home game, but was rained out June 3.
    Center fielder B.J. Crone led off with a hit to center and moved to second with designated hitter Jim Ott at the plate on an errant pickoff attempt. Ott bunted, with the play going from first to the pitcher covering, but interfernece was called on West Sacramento's pitcher sending Ott to second and Crone home to score.
    With one out, first baseman Russ Beldi walked and then third baseman Eric Archuleta was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. The next batter, right fielder Matt Blanford, was also hit, forcing in Ott with the second run of the inning.
    Reed gave up two consecutive walks to start the bottom of the first, but got out of the inning without West Sacramento scoring with two strikeouts and a ground ball.
    The Oaks came back to score another pair of runs in the second as Crone walked with one out and then scored on Ott's triple to center field.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder's sacrifice fly to center allowed Ott to score for a 4-0 Fair Oaks lead.
    In the third inning, Fair Oaks went up 7-0 as Blanford was hit by a pitch with one out. Left fielder Bryan Lynch followed with a hit to left and then with two outs, second baseman Rick Patel walked to load the bases. A triple by Crone to right field brought home all three base runners to give Fair Oaks a 7-0 lead.
    Two walks and a hit loaded the bases for West Sacramento in the bottom of the third, and three runs eventually scored to close the gap to 7-3, but that would be all West Sacramento would get the rest of the way.
    Fair Oaks added a run in the fourth as Schoenfelder led off with a hit and with one out and Archuleta at the plate stole second. Archuleta grounded out to move Schoenfelder to third and he scored on Blanford's hit to right for an 8-3 Oaks lead.
    In the sixth, Fair Oaks socred again as Schoenfelder led off with a hit to center. Beldi followed with a grounder to third that was booted and both runners were safe. Schoenfelder was forced out, however, as Archuleta, the next batter, bunted and the play went to third. Blanford walked to load the bases and then with two outs catcher Brad Hicks got a hit to left to score Beldi and Archuleta to make it 10-3.
    Reed struck out the side in the bottom of the inning and Fair Oaks scored two more runs in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring.
    Crone led off with a ground ball to short that found its way through the shortstop's legs and into left field.Ott then hit a ball to short and West Sacramento's shortstop took the ball and ran toward second. He recorded the out on Crone, but was taken out of the play and threw wildly to first allowing Ott to advance to second.
    Schoenfelder then hit a ball to short and a bad throw to first moved Ott to third, leaving Schoenfelder safe at first. With one out, Archuleta walked to load the bases and then Blanford's hit to left scored Ott and Schoenfelder to bring home the final runs of the game for a 12-3 Fair Oaks lead.
    Reed struck out the first batter he faced in the bottom of the seventh and then allowed a walk, but struck out the next two hitters to end the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	2	2	3	1	0	2	2	12	10	0
W. SACRAMENTO	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	3	5

Fair Oaks: Reed and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x3, 3B, 3 RBI; Ott 2x5, 3B, 2 RBI; Schoenfelder 2x4; Blanford 2x2, 4 RBI; Hicks 2 RBI.
West Sacramento: Palamidessi 2B.

Fair Oaks 8, Auburn 7 (League: 4-1, Overall: 8-2) - June 12 @ Del Oro High School - Overcoming a 7-4 late-inning deficit, the Fair Oaks Oaks battled back to edge Auburn 8-7 in extra innings at Del Oro High School.
It was the secnd win of the week for the Oaks, despite the team missing five players due to end-of-year high school senior trips.

Chris Rhines slides into third on a steal attempt during Fair Oaks' game against Auburn at Del Oro High School. Rhines reached base on a walk and moved to second on a hit, but was ruled out on the steal attempt later in the inning.

    The Oaks made the most of what they had, however, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the opening inning as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a high hopper to third that went off the third baseman's glove.
    With one out and shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder at the plate, Crone stole second and the throw got away allowing him to reach third. Schoenfelder then followed with a hit to center field to score Crone and stake starter Adam Moshkofsky to a 1-0 lead.
    Moshkofsky held Auburn scoreless in the bottom of the first despite two consecutive walks to start the inning. Brandon Olson took over pitching in the second and despite a two out hit and two walks to load the bases, also escaped unscathed.
    Fair Oaks also loaded the bases in the top of the third as Eric Archuleta was hit by a pitch, Schoenfelder walked and first baseman Jim Ott got a hit to left. A double play ended the inning, however, leaving the score at 1-0.
    A two out home run in the bottom of the third tied the game for Auburn, but Fair Oaks came back in the fifth to take a 4-1 advantage.
    Crone led off with a walk, but was eliminated on a bunt by center fielder Matt Blanford as the play went pitcher to second. With Schoenfelder at the plate, Blanford stole second and Schoenfelder drew a walk. Ott followed with a ground ball to short that was booted, allowing blanford to score. The ball was thrown away at third and Schoenfelder also came home.
    The next batter, Archuleta, faced a new Auburn pitcher and promptly doubled to right center to score Ott and make it a 4-1 Fair Oaks lead.
    Auburn touched reliever Russ Beldi for a run in the bottom of the fifth to bring the score to 4-2 and after Beldi gave up a walk to the next batter, Ott came in to pitch and Beldi went to first.
    Ott got the final out of the inning, but then in the sixth, a leadoff walk, wild pitch and an error on a ground ball to third resulted in another Auburn run.
    The next batter slammed a two run homer to right to put Auburn in the lead 5-4 and then a hit batsman and another home run put Auburn up 7-4.
    Ott was replaced on the mound by Schoenfelder, with Rick Patel taking his place at shortstop. Schoenfelder put down the next two batters to end the inning.
    A leadoff walk to Blanford in the top of the seventh prompted another Auburn pitching change, but the Oaks were ready and Schoenfelder faced the new pitcher for a hit up the middle.
    A pair of passed balls with Ott at the plate resulted in Blanford scoring and then a ground ball to first that was booted resulted in Schoenfelder scoring to make it 7-6, with Ott landing safely at first.
    Archuleta followed with a walk resulting in another pitching change and Beldi, the next batter, bunted to advance the runners.
    With two outs and still trailing by a run, the Oaks' Chris Rhines was the next batter. He hit a ball toward the hole at short. Auburn's shortstop made a dive for the ball, but it hit off his glove resulting in a hit and allowing Ott to score the tying run.
    The next batter struck out to end the inning, but the Oaks had new life and Schoenflder put Auburn down in order in the bottom of the inning.
    In Fair Oaks' eighth, Blanford was hit by a pitch with one out and with Schoenfelder at the plate, a balk sent Blanford to second and a wild pitch advanced him to third.
    The wild pitch prompted yet another Auburn pitching change and Schoenfelder grounded out agaisnt the new hurler.
    With Ott at the plate, a passed ball allowed Blanford to score to give the Oaks an 8-7 lead. Ott struck out, as did the next batter, Archuleta, but the Oaks were again on top.
    Schoenfelder allowed only one base runner in the bottom of the inning as an one out error resulted in hope for the Auburn faithful. But two strikeouts later the game was over and the Oaks escaped with an 8-7 win.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	1	0	0	0	3	0	3	1	8	7	3
AUBURN	0	0	1	0	1	5	0	0	7	6	4

Fair Oaks: Moshkofsky, Olson (2), Beldi (4), Ott (5), Schoenfelder (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x3, 2B; Archuleta 2B.
Auburn: Steinbeck, Tompkins (5), Bartsch (7), Tingy (7), Brown (8) and Rogers. Top hitters: Burgess 2x5, HR, 2RBI; Graham HR; Tompkins HR, 2 RBI.

F.O. 5, Haggin-Grant 1 (League: 5-1, Overall: 9-2) - June 14 @ Rio Linda High School - Fair Oaks' weekend three-game series got off to a good start as the Oaks defeated Haggin-Grant 5-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Matt Blanford dives back into first base in the third inning of Fair Oaks' game against Haggin-Grant at Rio Linda High School.

    It was a pitching duel early on as neither team could score despite Fair Oaks loading the bases in the fourth inning.
    Fair Oaks pitcher Jim Ott faced the minimum number of batters through three innings despite two hits, allowed a leadoff walk in the fourth before sending Grant down with three straight out and then got the side out in order in the fifth.
    Fair Oaks finally got on the board in the top of the sixth as third baseman Eric Archuleta hit a grounder to first that was booted and was moved to second on first baseman Russ Beldi's bunt back to the mound. Second baseman Rick Patel then got a double to center field to score Archuleta and make it a 1-0 game.
    Haggin-Grant went down in order again in the bottom of the sixth and the Oaks came back for a 2-0 lead in the seventh.
    With one out, right fielder Jason Wilkerson got a hit to center and with Ott at the plate, moved to second on a wild pitch. Ott walked and then Archuleta sent a fly ball to center that allowed Wilkerson to tag and move to third. In the Oaks' patented pickoff play, Ott puposely got picked off first and while in a rundown, Wilkerson headed home. As the throw went home, Ott motored safely to second and Wilkerson slid around the catcher to make it a 2-0 game.
    Haggin-Grant came back with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Oaks scored again in the eighth as Bryan Lynch drew a leadoff walk and then with one out, catcher B.J. Crone slammed the ball over the left field fence to make it a 4-1 game.
    The Oaks weren't through, however, facing their fourth pitcher of the day, Matt Blanford reached safely on an error, shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder walked and Wilkerson got a hit to left to load the bases.
    Blanford scored on Ott's fly to left to make it a 5-1 Fair Oaks lead.
    Neither team made any rumblings the rest of the way and the Oaks recorded a 5-1 victory over Haggin-Grant.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	0	5	11	1
HAGGIN-GRANT	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	1

Fair Oaks: Ott and Crone. Top hitters: Crone HR, 2 RBI.
Haggin-Grant: Pearson, Gardner (6), Frnaklin (8), Smith (8) and Nelson.

F.O. 14, Haggin-Grant 2 (League: 6-1, Overall: 10-2) - June 14 @ Rio Linda High School - In Fair Oaks' second game of their Saturday doubleheader, the Oaks' bats came alive as Post 383 hammered out 12 hits, six of which were home runs.


	Garrett Schoenfelder (left) and Jason Wilkerson (right) each had a pair of home runs in the Oaks' 14-2 victory over Haggin-Grant at Rio Linda High School.

    Haggin-Grant scored one run in each of the first two innings for a 2-0 lead off Oaks' starter Adam Moshkofsky, but the Oaks got one back in the third and two in the fourth for a lead that they'd never give up.
    Fair Oaks scored two more runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 5-2 lead, but the big explosion came in the top of the seventh when a total of nine runs crossed the plate for the final 14-2 margin.
    Haggin-Grant contributed five errors in the loss and the Oaks pitching scattered seven hits.
    Leading Fair Oaks was Garrett Schoenfelder with a double and two home runs. Schoenfelder also drove in three of the Oaks' runs and pitched the sixth inning before being relieved by Brandon Olson in the seventh.
    Jason Wilkerson had a pair of hits - both solo home runs and B.J. Crone and Eric Archuleta also homered. Crone also added two RBI. Sean Chopelas also had an extra-base hit with a double and drove in two runs.
    The victory raised Fair Oaks' Eastern Division-leading record to 6-1, 10-2 overall.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	1	2	2	0	9	14	12	1
HAGGIN-GRANT	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	5

Fair Oaks: Moshkofsky, Schoenfelder (6), Olson (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 3x5, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Wilkerson 2x5, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Crone 2x5, HR, 2 RBI; Archuleta HR; Chopelas 2B, 2 RBI.
Haggin-Grant: Mikels, Nelson (5), Smith (7), Gallagher (7) and Nelson, Gallagher (5), Franklin (7).

F.O. 11, Haggin-Grant 9 (League: 7-1, Overall: 11-2) - June 15 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks stretched its record to 7-1 in the Eastern Division of the American Legion's District 6 with a sweep of Haggin-Grant in their three-game series.

Second baseman Dave Yurchak waits for the ball on a first inning steal attempt in the Oaks' game against Haggin-Grant at Bella Vista High School.

    A two-run homer in the top of the second put Fair Oaks down 2-0, but the Oaks came back with a four run outburst in the bottom of the third to take a 4-1 lead.
    Second baseman Dave Yurchak led off the inning with a hit to left and B.J. Crone and Jim Ott followed with hits to load the bases.
    Garrett Schoenfleder's hit to left scored Yurchak to make it 2-1 and keep the bases loaded. Jason Wilkerson walked to force in Crone and tie the game at 2-2 and then the next two batters struck out.
    Ott and Schoenfelder both scored to make it a 4-2 game on Rick Patel's hit to left.
    Haggin-Grant got one run back in the fourth, but the Oaks kept their lad by scoring three more in the bottom of the inning for a 7-3 advantage.
    Yurchak led off with a walk and Crone was hit by a pitch to start things off. Ott's grounder to third forced Yurchak and then Schoenflder flew to right for the second out of the inning. Wilkerson followed with a double, however, scoring Crone and Ott, and then Russ Beldi's hit to right center scored Wilkerson for a 7-3 lead.
    Haggin-Grant got one run back in the fifth, but the Oaks got two in the bottom of the inning for a 9-4 lead.
    With one out, Justin Hoppes got a hit by a diving second baseman and moved to second on Yurchak's bunt to the pitcher. Crone followed with a home run into the trees in left field to score two and make it a 9-4 game.
    Heither team scored again until the eighth when Haggin-Grant added one to make it 9-5. The Oaks answered back, however, with two runs in the bottom of the inning to make it an 11-5 game.
    With one out, Ott got a hit up the middle and that was followed by a Schoenfelder home run to left for the Oaks' 10th and 11th runs.
    A bases loaded one-out home run smash in the top of the ninth off Brandon Olson who came in to relieve Schoenfelder, however, brought the score to 11-9. Schoenfelder came back to the mound from shortstop to finish out the game. Despite a walk and an error, Schoenfelder got out of the inning with no further damage and the Oaks recorded an 11-9 victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
HAGGIN-GRANT	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	9	12	1
FAIR OAKS	0	0	4	3	2	0	0	2	0	11	13	3

Haggin-Grant: Supplee, Keaney (7) and Gallagher. Top hitters: Pierson 2x5; Green 2x4; Mikels4x4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Franklin 2x4; Gallagher HR, 2 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Schoenfelder, Olson (9), Schoenfelder (9) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x3, HR, 2 RBI; Ott 3x5; Schoenfelder 2x5, HR, 3 RBI; Wilkerson 2B, 2 RBI; Patel 2x4, 2 RBI.

F.O. 10, Grass Valley 7 (League: 8-1, Overall: 12-2) - June 17 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks opened up a three-and-a-half game lead in the Eastern Division with a 10-7 win over Grass Valley. The Oaks' bats remained hot, especially Garrett Schoenfelder and Jason Wilkerson, who both crushed home runs and had big days at the plate.

Russ Beldi

    Schoenfelder also had a double and four RBIs, while Wilkerson added a double and 3 RBI.
    The Oaks jumped on Grass Valley early with three runs in the first inning and six in the second for a 9-0 lead.
    Grass Valley managed a pair of runs off starting pitcher Russ Beldi in the third and added three more in the sixth when Beldi was replaced on the mound by Brandon Olson.
    Fair Oaks added a run in their half of the fourth for a 10-2 lead at the time. Grass Valley picked away, but couldn't close the gap as the Oaks held on for a 10-7 win.
    Nick Palumbo also had a good day at he plate with two hits, including a double, and Dave Yurchak closed out the game on the mound for the Oaks, replacing Olson in the seventh.
    The win raised the Oaks' Eastern Division leading record to 8-1, 12-2 overall. Coupled with Elk Grove's loss to Post 61, the Oaks sport the best record in District 6.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
GRASS VALLEY	0	0	2	0	0	3	2	7	9	2
FAIR OAKS	3	6	0	1	0	0	-	10	9	2

Grass Valley: Rocholtz, Cubbler (2), Wise (5) and McCabe. Top hitters: Pollock 2x4, 2B, HR; Esposito 2x4; Jacobson 2x3; Cubbler HR.
Fair Oaks: Beldi, Olson (6), Yurchak (7) and Hicks. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI; Wilkerson 2x3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI; Palumbo 2x4, 2B.

Post 61 7, Fair Oaks 5 (League: 8-2, Overall: 12-3) - June 18 @ Renfree Field - A three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning with two strikes on the batter and two outs gave Post 61 a 7-5 win over Fair Oaks at Renfree Field.
    The heartbreaking loss was only the second in league play for the Oaks, who remain on top of the District 6 Eastern Division.
    Post 61 jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as a leadoff double and single off starting pitcher Adam Moshkofsky brought home the run.
    Fair Oaks took the lead in the third as third baseman Justin Hoppes started things off with a one out walk. Hoppes moved to third on catcher B.J. Crone's double to left center and then scored on center fielder Matt Blanford's hit to center.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder followed with a double to right field to score Crone and make it a 2-1 game.
    Fair Oaks extended its lead to 4-1 in the fourth as designated hitter Nick Palumbo led off with a walk. Left fielder Sean Chopelas followed with a bunt back to the pitcher that moved Palumbo to second. Second baseman Rick Patel then bounced a ground ball to third. The throw went to second, but was misplayed and Palumbo landed on third, with Patel safe at first.
    Hoppes then sent a fly to center that scored Palumbo for a 3-1 lead. Crone was the next batter and reached base on a check swing grounder to third. The throw pulled the first baseman off the bag.
    Blanford followed with a hit to left to score Patel for a 4-1 Fair Oaks lead.
    Jim Ott, who had been playing first, came in to pitch the fourth, with Russ Beldi taking over at first.
    Ott hit the first batter he faced, but then struck out the next two and got the third to ground out.
    Post 61 scored another run in the fifth, however on two consecutive hits and a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 4-2.
    Schoenfelder came in to pitch the sixth, with Ott moving to second, but gave up a leadoff walk and a hit. A failed double play on the next batter resulted in a run scoring to bring the game to 4-3.
    Fair Oaks got the run back in the top of the seventh as Schoenfelder led off with a walk off Post 61's second pitcher of the night, who had entered the game the previous inning.
    Right fielder Jason Wilkerson followed with a hit to right that sent Scoenfelder to third, and he scored on Ott's hit to right to make it a 5-3 game.
    With one out, Bryan Lynch walked to load the bases, but the next two batters recorded outs to end the inning.
    Schoenfelder got in trouble early in the bottom of the seventh as a leadoff walk and double scored a run to make it a 5-4 game. The runner was thrown out trying to take third, however, to give the Oaks one out.
    Schoenfelder struck out the next batter, but then gave up a walk to put the tying runner on base.
    The next batter sent a one hopper to second, but the ball took a high bounce off the lip of the infield and over Ott's head for a hit.
    With two outs, Schoenfelder got two quick strikes on the next batter, but then served up a home run ball that easily cleared the fence in right field to give Post 61 a 7-5 victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	2	2	0	0	1	5	10	1
POST 61	1	0	0	0	1	1	4	7	9	2

Fair Oaks: Moshkofsky, Ott (4), Schoenfelder (6) and Crone. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x3, 2B; Blanford 2x3, 2 RBI.
Post 61: N/A

Fair Oaks 17, Cordova 5 (League: 9-2, Overall: 13-3) - June 20 @ Peterson Field - Fair Oaks overcame a slow start to crush division rival Cordova 17-5 at Peterson Field.
    Cordova scored its first run in the second off Post 383 starter Ryan Reed, but the Oaks came back in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead as shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder started things off with a one out hit to center.
    Schoenfelder stole second with right fielder Jason Wilkerson at the plate. Wilkerson walked and then designated hitter Nick Palumbo hit a fly to right that allowed Schoenfelder to tag and go to third.
    With first baseman Russ Beldi at the plate, Wilkerson stole second and then Beldi hit a ground ball to short. Be ball skipped under the shortstop's glove and Schoenfelder and Wilkerson both scored to make it a 2-1 game.
    The Oaks added five more runs in the fifth as third baseman Justin Hoppes got a hit to right. Catcher B.J. Crone followed with a double to left and the center fielder Matt Blanford walked to load the bases.
    Schoenfelder followed with a ball that went to third and was booted. Hoppes and Crone scored to make it 4-1. Wilkerson followed with his fourth home run of the season to center field, making it a 7-1 game.
    The homer chased Cordova's starting pitcher and despite a hit by Beldi, Cordova managed to get out of the inning with no further runs scoring.
    Fair Oaks continued its onslaught in the sixth, however, scoring eight more runs and sending 13 batters to the plate.
    Crone got a one out hit to left to start things off and then hits by Blanford and Schoenfelder scored Crone.
    A hit by Wilkerson loaded the bases and then Palumbo's hit off the glove of the shortstop scored Blanford to make it 9-1. Schoenfelder and Wilkerson scored on Beldi's hit to left and then Palumbo scored on a ball that was hit to short by left fielder Sean Chopelas that was booted.
    Second baseman Rick Patel was the next batter and he hit a ball to center field that was dropped, allowing Beldi to score. Hoppes followed with a hit to left to score Chopelas and make it a 14-1 game.
    Crone's sacrifice to center field for the second out of the inning scored Patel to make it 15-1. Blanford was then hit by a pitch, but the next batter lined to first to end the inning.
    Cordova scored a single run in the bottom of the sixth, added two more in the seventh and one in the eighth off new Post 383 pitcher Crone to make it 15-5, but the Oaks came back with another pair of runs in the ninth to cut off Cordova's mini-comeback.
    Crone led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and then with one out, Schoenfelder walked. Brad Hicks, who came in to catch in the seventh, followed with a ball to short that was booted and then thrown away. Crone scored and Schoenfelder advanced to third. Pinch hitter Jim Ott then sent a ball to third that was booted, allowing Schoenfelder to score for a 17-5 lead. The next batter grounded out to end the inning.
    Crone got two quick outs in the ninth before allowing a walk, but the next batter grounded out to end the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	0	2	5	8	0	0	2	17	14	6
CORDOVA	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	5	7	7

Fair Oaks: Reed, Crone (8) and Crone, Hicks (7). Top hitters: Crone 2x4, 2B; Schoenfelder 2x5; Wilkerson 2x3, HR, 3 RBI; Palumbo 2x4; Beldi 2x6; Hoppes 2x5.
Cordova Evans, Elliott (5), Mays (7) and Lebeck. Top hitters: Vice 4x5.

Fair Oaks 11, Cordova 10 (League: 10-2, Overall: 14-3) - June 21 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks overcame an 8-0 Cordova lead to win the first game of a doubleheader 11-10 at Bella Vista High School.
    Cordova jumped on Oaks' starter Jim Ott for three runs in the first inning and scored four more in the second and one in the third for their 8-0 advantage.
    Ott was replaced in the second by Adam Moshkofsky after giving up a leadoff walk and a hit, but Moshkofsky had similar luck as a run scored on a bunt as no one covered the play and a balk advance the runners to second and third.
    A sacrifice, three hits and a walk lenghthened Cordova's lead to 7-0 and a third inning double contributed to Cordova's eighth run.
    The Oaks managed two runs in the bottom of the inning as Matt Blanford got a one out walk and moved to third on Garrett Schoenfelder's double to center. Jason wilkerson followed with another double to score both runners and make it an 8-2 game.
    The Oaks closed it to 8-6 in the fourth as Brad Hicks reached on an error with one out and a two out error put Justin Hoppes on base.
    B.J. Crone's pop-up between first and second fell in, scoring Hicks and then Blanford beat a grounder to second for a hit to socre Hoppes. Schoenfelder followed with a hit to center to score Crone and Wilkerson followed with a double to right center to score Blanford and make it 8-6.
    Another run closed the gap to one in the fifth as consecutive hits by Nick Palumbo and Russ Beldi put two runners on. With one out, Rick Patel's pop to short dropped in to load the bases and with two outs, Crone was hit by a pitch to force Palumbo in to make it an 8-7 game.
    Cordova came back with a pair of runs in the sixth to make it 10-7, but the Oaks too kthe lead in the eighth with four runs for an 11-10 advantage.
    Crone led off with a hit to center and with one out, Schoenfelder reached on an error that sent Crone to third.
    With Wilkerson at the plate, Crone scored on a wild pitch and then he followed with a hit to center to score Schoenfelder to make it 10-9 and drive Cordova's pitcher from the game.
    Cordova's new hurler gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Palumbo, sending the score to 11-10.
    Moshkofsky sent Cordova down in order in the top of the ninth to record the win for Fair Oaks.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CORDOVA	3	4	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	14	2
FAIR OAKS	0	0	2	4	1	0	0	4	-	11	16	2

Cordova: Blackburn, Johnson (8) and Lebeck. Top hitters: Vice 3x5, 2B; Lebeck 2x5, 2B, 2 RBI; Johnson 2x3; Coleman 2x4, 2B.
Fair Oaks Ott, Moshkofsky (2) and Crone, Hicks (4). Top hitters: Crone 2x4, 2 RBI; Blanford 2x4; Schoenfelder 2x5, 2B; Wilkerson 3x5, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Palumbo 3x5, HR, 2 RBI; Patel 2x5, 2B.

Fair Oaks 12, Cordova 2 (League: 11-2, Overall: 15-3) - June 21 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks completed its three-game sweep of Cordova, winning the second game of their doubleheader 12-2.
    Unlike the first game, the Oaks dominated Game 2 from start to finish, receiving a complete-game pitching performance from Brandon Olson and bashing out 14 hits.
    Fair Oaks went up 4-0 in the first inning as B.J. Crone led off with a hit. With one out, Jason Wilkerson walked and then Crone scored on Nick Palumbo's hit to left.
    Jim Ott followed with a hit down the first base line to score Wilkerson and then Russ Beldi's hit to right scored Palumbo to make it 3-0. Matt Blanford's sacrifice to center scored Ott to make it a 4-0 Fair Oaks advantage.
    The Oaks added three more runs in the second off a new Cordova pitcher as Garrett Schoenfelder started things off with a one out hit to left. Hits by Wilkerson and Palumbo brought home Schoenfelder for a 5-0 lead, and then Ott's hit to right loaded the bases.
    With two outs, Blanford got a hit that just escaped the third baseman to score Palumbo and Wilkerson to make it 7-0.
    Olson sent Cordova down in order in the top of the third and the Oaks came back for three more runs in the bottom of the inning.
    Dave Yurchak led off with a hit and then with one out, Schoenfelder walked. With two outs, Palumbo came to the plate and slammed a home run to left, scoring Yurchak, Schoenfelder and himself for a 10-0 lead. Ott and Beldi followed with hits, as well, but did not score.
    Palumbo's home run was the Oaks' 20th of the year (in 18 games). Last year Fair Oaks only had 16 for the entire season and in 1995 the team had 24 in 39 games in its drive to the state playoffs.
    The Oaks scored another run in the fourth as three consecutive walks to Justin Hoppes, Yurchak and Bryan Lynch loaded the bases. Schoenfelder, the next batter, hit a dribbler in front of the plate, resulting in a force of Hoppes at the plate, but then Wilkerson's ground ball to third scored Yurchak to make it a 11-0 game.
    Three straight hits in the top of the fifth brought home two runs for the Cordova team, but the Oaks answered back with a run in the sixth for the final 12-2 tally.
    Yurchak was hit by a pitch to start things off and then with one out, Schoenfelder doubled to left. Sean Chopelas followed with another hit to left to score Yurchak for the final run of the game.
    Olson downed Cordova in order in the top of the seventh on a pop to first and a pair of strikeouts to end the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
CORDOVA	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	7	2
FAIR OAKS	4	3	3	1	0	1	-	12	14	1

Cordova: Nicolai, Montgomery (2), Coleman (6) and Evans, Hansen (5). Top hitters: Coleman 2x3.
Fair Oaks Olson and Palumbo. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x4, 2B; Palumbo 3x5, HR, 5 RBI; Ott 3x4, 2B; Beldi 2x3.

Fort Sutter 9, Fair Oaks 7 (League: 11-3, Overall: 15-4) - June 25 @ Renfree Field - A grand slam home run in the top of the seventh inning broke open a 5-5 tie and sent Fair Oaks down to an eventual 9-7 defeat at the hands of Fort Sutter.
    The Oaks had led the entire game, taking a 1-0 lead in the second and building a 4-0 margin by the fourth inning.
    Sutter, however, came back to score twice in the fifth to make it 4-2 and then added a run in the sixth for a 4-3 game.
    The Oaks opened the lead back to two at 5-3 with a single run in the bottom of the inning only to have Sutter explode for six runs in the top of the seventh for a 9-5 advantage.
    With reliever Garrett Schoenfelder on the mound and the Oaks leading 5-4, Sutter loaded the bases and brought home the tying run on a bunt.
    A grand slam home run followed to push Sutter out in front 9-5. The Oaks came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but couldn't catch up, losing the game by a final 9-7 score.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FORT SUTTER	0	0	0	0	2	1	6	9	7	2
FAIR OAKS	0	1	2	1	0	1	2	7	12	5

Fort Sutter: N/A
Fair Oaks Beldi, Ott (5), Schoenfelder (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Wilkerson 2x4, Patel 2 2B, 2 RBI; Hoppes 2 2B; Blanford 2x4; Beldi 2x4; Crone 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 8, Roseville 6 (League: 12-3, Overall: 16-4) - June 26 @ Woodcreek High - The Oaks rebounded from their loss the previous night with an 8-6 victory over Roseville at Woodcreek High School.
    Fair Oaks' offense has been sputtering as of late, but that didn't stop Post 383 from going up 1-0 in the first inning as center fielder B.J. Crone led off with a hit to center.
    Left fielder Matt Blanford was the next batter and he sent a slow roller to shortstop, beating the throw to first and sending Crone, who had been running on the play, to second.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder then popped up to left, but the ball was dropped. Crone, unfortunately, was caught between second and third and was forced at third base.
    With two outs and designated hitter Nick Palumbo at the plate, a wild pitch scored Blanford for a 1-0 lead.
    Roseville tied the game up in the second, but the Oaks came back in the top of the third for four more runs despite only getting one hit.
    Crone led off with a line drive to second for the first out, but then Blanford was hit by a pitch to put a runer on. Schoenfelder flew out to left for the second out, but then left fielder Jason Wilkerson and Palumbo walked to load the bases.
    With first baseman Jim Ott at the plate a wild pitch scored Blanford. Ott walked to reload the bases and second baseman Rick Patel's ground ball to third was booted to score Wilkerson for a 3-1 lead.
    Walks to third baseman Justin Hoppes and catcher Brad Hicks scored Palumbo and Ott for a 5-1 Fair Oaks advantage, and then the ending ended on a Crone grounder that went from short to second to force Hicks.
    Roseville got two runs back in the bottom of the third as starter Rick Ryan continued to struggle with walks, having given up four in the first two innings and a fifth to lead off the third.
    With one out, a two-run homer to left brought the score to 5-3. Ryan struck out the next two batters, but another walk prompted a pitching change in favor of Brandon Olson.
    lson's first pitch got a ground ball to end the inning and Fair Oaks came back to score two more runs in the fourth for a 7-3 lead.
    Blanford led off with a double to left center and then with two outs, Palumbo's hit to center scored Blanford for a 6-3 lead. With Ott at the plate, Palumbo stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. The throw to third got away, allowing Palumbo to score to make it 7-3. Ott then doubled, but the next batter flew out to end the inning.
    Roseville came back in the bottom of the inning for one run, but the Oaks again extended their lead in the fifth as Hoppes led off with a walk and moved to second on hicks' bunt back to the pitcher. Crone walked and then with two outs, Schoenfelder's hit to right scored Hoppes to make it 8-4.
    Three straight hits in the bottom of the fifth loaded the bases for Roseville and then a walk forced in a run to make the score 8-5. A ground ball to second brought home another Roseville run to make it an 8-6 game.
    The Oaks went out in order in the sixth and then after a leadoff double by roseville in the bottom of the inning, Adam Moshofsky took the mound for the Oaks.
    Moshofsky managed to get out of the inning with no runs scoring despite some early difficulties. The runner on second was tagged out going to third on a ground ball to short and then a fly to center and strike out ended the inning.
    Fair Oaks faced a new pitcher in the top of the seventh, with Hoppes and Hicks striking out and Crone flying to right to end the inning.
    Moshofsky answered the challenge in the bottom of the inning, sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a pop to first to end the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	1	0	4	2	1	0	0	8	6	2
ROSEVILLE	0	1	2	1	2	0	0	6	6	2

Fair Oaks: Reed, Olson (4), Moshofsky (6) and Hicks. Top hitters: Blanford 2x4, 2B; Ott 2B.
Roseville: Sharaky, Ponnequin (4), Perkins (7) and Watts, Kelly (5). Top hitters: Pagonis 2B; Sauderman 2B; Perkins HR, 2 RBI; Fike 2x4.

Fair Oaks 14, Citrus Heights 3 (League: 13-3, Overall: 17-4) - June 28 @ Del Campo High - Fair Oaks played home run derby in its opening game of a three-game set against Citrus Heights as the Oaks pounded the ball over the fence seven times en route to a 14-3 victory.
    Post 383 went up 3-0 in the first inning as center fielder Matt Blanford received a one out walk, shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder slammed a two-run homer over the left field fence, and designated hitter Nick Palumbo hit a two-out homer over the right field fence.
    In the second, two more runs scored as second baseman Rick Patel led off with a ground ball to third that was booted and then with two outs, catcher B.J. Crone put the ball over the right field fence for a 5-0 lead.
    In the third, Schoenfelder led off with his second home run of the game over the right field fence. Right fielder Jason Wilkerson followed with a left field homer for a 7-0 lead.
    On the mound, pitcher Jim Ott continued to get the outs, allowing only one hit through the seventh inning.
    Fair Oaks went up 9-0 in the fifth as Wilkerson got a two out hit to center and with Palumbo at the plate advanced to third on two wild pitches. Palumbo walked and then stole second with first baseman Russ Beldi at the plate.
    The throw toward second to get Palumbo got away and Wilkerson scored. Beldi then got a hit to left to score Palumbo and make it a 9-0 game.
    Fair Oaks made it 10-0 in the sixth as third baseman Justin Hoppes beat out a bunt toward third. With Crone at the plate, a passed ball moved Hoppes to second and then with two out, he scored as Schoenfelder's ground ball to third resulted in a bad throw to first for a run-scoring error.
    In the seventh, the Oaks went up 11-0 on Patel's first home run of the year. Citrus Heights finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth with a single run, but the Oaks answered back in the top of the ninth with three more runs.
    Wilkerson led off with a hit to left and then scored on a Beldi home run to left with one out. With two outs, Bryan Lynch doubled to left and then scored on Chris Rhines' hit to right to give the Oaks a 14-1 lead.
    Dave Yurchak came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. The Oaks defense failed behind him, however, as two errors and a double resulted in a pair of runs scoring for the final 14-3 score.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	3	2	2	0	2	1	1	0	3	14	16	3
C. HEIGHTS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	6	4

Fair Oaks: Ott, Yurchak (9) and Crone, Blanford (7), Top hitters: Crone HR; Schoenfelder 2x5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Wilkerson 3x5, HR, 3 RBI; Palumbo 2x3, HR; Beldi 2x5, HR; Lynch 2x2, 2 2B; Patel 2x4, 2B, HR.
Citrus Heights: Watson, Dimopoulos (3) and Needles, Carson (7). Top hitters: Tompkins 2B; Williams 2x4, 2B.

Fair Oaks 12, Citrus Heights 1 (League: 14-3, Overall: 18-4) - June 28 @ Del Campo High - The Oaks used more conventional means to score their runs in the second game of their doubleheader against Citrus Heights at Del Campo High School.     After hitting seven home runs in the first game, Fair Oaks failed to get one over the fence in the second, but still beat up on Citrus Heights, 12-1.
    Fair Oaks scored twice in the first as center fielder B.J. Crone got hit by a pitch to start things off. He scored on shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder's double to right center and then Schoenfelder scored on designated hitter Nick Palumbo's hit to left.
    In the second, Fair Oaks scored another pair of runs as third baseman Justin Hoppes got a two out hit to left. Catcher Brad Hicks followed with a walk and then both runners scored on Crone's double to right. Crone tried for third on the play, but was tagged out. He stopped in the baseline in front of third, forcing the third baseman to come after him, giving Hicks time to score.
    In the third, another run came home as Schoenfelder led off with a walk. With right fielder Jason Wilkerson at the plate, a wild pitch sent Schoenfelder to second and then with two outs, he scored on left fielder Jim Ott's hit to right field.
    Citrus Heights got its only run of the game in the bottom of the third as pitcher Adam Moshofsky gave up a leadoff double and a two out hit to bring the score to 5-1.
    In the fifth, the Oaks continued their scoring onslaught as Wilkerson beat the throw on a ball to deep short. With one out, Ott doubled and then first baseman Russ Beldi walked to load the bases.
    Second baseman Rick Patel followed with a grounder to third that was booted, allowing Wilkerson to score.
    Hoppes followed with a hit to right that scored Ott and Beldi for an 8-1 lead and a new Citrus Heights pitcher.
    Hicks drew a walk off the new pitcher to reload the bases and then Crone hit a ball to shortstop, with no play resulting and Patel scoring.
    Schoenfelder walked to force in Hoppes to make it a 10-1 Fair Oaks lead.
    Aided by a double play, Moshofsky faced only three batters in the bottom of the fifth and the Oaks came back to score another run in the sixth for an 11-1 lead.
    With one out, Ott got a hit to left. Beldi popped out and then Patel drew a walk. Hoppes followed with a hit to center that scored Ott for the 11-1 advantage.
    Fair Oaks added its final run of the game in the top of the seventh as Brandon Olson hit a ball to right that was dropped. Two straight ground balls to short by Schoenfelder and Bryan Lynch went for errors to load the bases and then Sean Chopelas' double play ball that went from short to second to first scored Olson for the 12-1 lead.
    Dave Yurchak took the mound in the bottom of the inning to close the game out for the Fair Oaks victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	2	2	1	0	5	1	1	12	12	1
CITRUS HEIGHTS	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	6

Fair Oaks: Moshofsky, Yurchak (7) and Hicks. Top hitters: Crone 2x3, 2B, 3 RBI; Schoenfelder 2x4, 2B, 2 RBI; Palumbo 2x4, 2B; Ott 3x4, 2B; Hoppes 3x3; Hicks 2x3, 2B.
Citrus Heights: Williams, Stockbridge (5) and Lancaster. Top hitters: Tompkins 3x3, 2B; McConaha 2x2.

Citrus Heights 13, Fair Oaks 7 (League: 14-4, Overall: 18-5) - June 29 @ Bella Vista High - With Citrus Heights pitcher Marshall Rubens striking out 14 and Fair Oaks commiting six errors, the Oaks didn't stand much of a chance in their final game of their three-game set against Citrus Heights, losing 13-7 at Bella Vista High School.
    Citrus Heights led 5-0 before the Oaks got on the board with three runs in the third. Starting pitcher Brandon Olson left the game in the top of the third in favor of Russ Beldi, but Citrus Heights hits, coupled with Oaks' miscues, ran the score up to 11-3 by the top of the fifth.
    Citrus Heights scored five times in the fifth, chasing Beldi from the mound in favor of Ryan Reed, who blanked Citrus Heights over the next two innings.
    The Oaks managed two runs in the bottom of the fifth and one in the sixth to bring the score to 11-6, but Citrus Heights added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to put the game away.
    Fair Oaks scored only one more time with a run in the eighth for the final 13-7 tally.
    Dave Yurchak closed out the game on the mound for Fair Oaks as he came in to pitch the ninth inning.
    Despite the loss, the Oaks collected 13 hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from catcher B.J. Crone, two hits by Chris Rhines and a double from Jason Wilkerson.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
C. HEIGHTS	2	0	3	1	5	0	0	1	1	13	20	2
FAIR OAKS	0	0	3	0	2	1	0	1	0	7	13	6

Citrus Heights: Rubens and Needles. Top hitters: Tompkins 4x5, 2B; Polan 4x6, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Stockbridge 2x5; Williams 2x3; Carson 2x3, 4 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Olson, Beldi (3), Reed (5), Yurchak (9) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 3x4; Wilkerson 2B; Rhines 2x5.

Fair Oaks 14, Utah 4 (League: 14-4, Overall: 19-5) - July 1 @ Fairfield - Taking a break from league play, Fair Oaks got off to an excellent start in Mr. C's Tournament of Champions in Fairfield Tuesday, July 1.
    The week-long tournament draws teams from all over the United States and Post 383 opened play at Fairfield's Laurel Creek Community Park against the Smithfield, Utah Aztecs.
    After a rocky start to open the game, Post 383 settled down and went on for a 14-4 victory over the Aztecs in a game that went only five innings.
    The tournament utilizes both a two-hour time limit for starting innings and a 10-run rule. Fair Oaks gained a 10 run lead in the bottom of the fifth to end the game.
    Utah jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off Oaks' starter Russ Beldi. Two hits, an error and a walk led to the runs, but Beldi and the Oaks got out of the inning with no further damage.
    Fair Oaks got two runs back in the second as second baseman Rick Patel led off the inning getting hit by a pitch. A wild pitch with third baseman Justin Hoppes at the plate sent Patel to second and he scored on Hoppes double to left for a 3-1 game.
    Left fielder Bryan Lynch followed with a hit to left. With one out, center fielder B.J. Crone hit a ball to short. Utah tried for the double play, but the speedy Crone reached first safely and Hoppes scored to make it a 3-2 game.
    Utah made it a 4-2 game in the top of the third, but the Oaks came back in the bottom of the inning to score four runs and take a 6-4 lead.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder led off with a walk and moved to third on third baseman Jason Wilkerson's double to right. Both runners scored as designated hitter Nick Palumbo got a hit to left to tie the game at 4-4.
    Patel was the next batter and he hit a ball to third. The throw went to second, but Patel beat out the throw to first to avoid the double play.
    Patel stole second and then Hoppes doubled to left to score Patel, making it a 5-4 game. Lynch followed with a hit to left, sending Hoppes to third and driving Utah pitcher Justin Creech out of the game.
    With catcher Brad Hicks at the plate, a wild pitch scored Hoppes to make it 6-4. Hicks grounded out and then Lynch was picked off third to end the inning.
    Beldi struck out the side in the top of the fourth and Fair Oaks scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning as Crone led off with a hit to left.
    First baseman Jim Ott followed with a double to left center, sending Crone to third and he scored on Schoenfelder's ground ball to short.
    With two outs, Ott moved to third on an errant pickoff play. Palumbo got a hit to left to score Ott, giving the Oaks an 8-4 lead.
    Six more runs scored in the fifth inning to give the Oaks a 10 run lead and the win as Hoppes led off with a walk.
    Hoppes stole second with Lynch at the plate and then with one out, Hicks walked to put two runners on. Crone followed with a double to right center to score both runners for a 10-4 lead.
    Nick Wheeler moved from short to the mound for the Aztecs, but he had little success, as a wild pitch with Ott at the plate scored Crone all the way from second.
    Ott walked and then went to third on a hit to right by Schoenfelder.
    With Wilkerson at the plate, Schoenfelder stole second and then Ott scored on a ball four pitch that got away from the catcher.
    Palumbo followed with a hit to right center to make it 13-4 as Schoenfelder scored to give the Oaks a nine run lead, and then with Patel at the plate, a passed ball moved Palumbo to second.
    Patel was then intentionally walked to load the bases and the next batter Hoppes lined the ball into center field for what would have been extra-bases, but the Oaks only needed one run for the win and the game ended at 14-4 as Wilkerson crossed the plate.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
UTAH	3	0	1	0	0	4	2	1
FAIR OAKS	0	2	4	2	6	14	13	3

Utah: Creech, Adalga (3), Wheeler (5) and Brown.
Fair Oaks: Beldi and Hicks. Top hitters: Crone 2x3, 2B, 3 RBI; Ott 2B; Wilkerson 2B; Palumbo 3x4, 5 RBI; Hoppes 3x3, 2B, 3 RBI Lynch 2x3, 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 8, Solano Concrete 5 (League: 14-4, Overall: 20-5) - July 1 @ Napa Valley College - Fair Oaks stepped up its level of play a notch as it took the field against Solano Concrete in the second game of the Mr. C's Tournament at Napa Valley College.
    The always tough Solano team returns 15 players from last year, but they were no match for Fair Oaks' scrappy squad as Post 383 led wire-to-wire in an 8-5 victory.
    The Oaks led 3-0 before Solano could get an out in the opening inning and went on from there, building a 5-0 lead before Solano finally scored its first runs in the third.
    Fair Oaks led 6-3 before Solano closed the gap with two runs in the fifth for a 6-5 deficit, but single runs in the sixth and seventh gave Fair Oaks an added cushion en route to the win.
    Ryan Reed was tough on the mound, pitching six strong innings before being relieved by Jim Ott in the seventh.
    Fair Oaks continued to pound the ball. After picking up 13 hits in their opening game against Utah, the Oaks came back for 12 more against Solano.
    B.J. Crone was 2-for-3 with a double and triple, and Ott was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI.
    Jason Wilkerson also had a good day at the plate with three hits in four tries, including a home run.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	3	1	1	1	0	1	1	8	12	0
SOLANO	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	5	8	4

Fair Oaks: Reed, Ott (7) and Hicks. Top hitters: Crone 2x3, 2B, 3B; Ott 3x3, 2B, 3 RBI; Wilkerson 3x4, HR.
Solano: Olsen, Aldridge (7) and Pickett. Top hitters: DeSoto 2x4, HR, 3 RBI; Donahue HR, 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 11, Manhart/KV 7 (League: 15-4, Overall: 21-5) - July 2 @ Renfree Field - In a game that had more bizarre twists and turns than you could shake a bat at, the Fair Oaks Oaks battled Manhart/KV to an 11-7 victory at Renfree Field.
    Manhart took a 1-0 lead off Oaks starter Garrett Schoenfelder in the top of the first, but the Oaks came back for a 4-1 advantage in the bottom of the inning.
    The first six Oaks batters reached base as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a hit to left field. Left fielder Jim Ott followed with a double to right and then Schoenfelder doubled to center to score both runners for a 2-1 lead.
    Right fielder Jason Wilkerson followed with a walk and then first baseman Nick Palumbo got a hit to center to load the bases.
    Third baseman Justin Hoppes followed with a hit to center to score Schoenfelder and then with one out, center fielder Matt Blanford's grounder to third scored Wilkerson for a 4-1 lead.
    Things began to get weird in the second inning as the leadoff batter for Manhart beat out an infield hit. He stole second and then the next batter got a hit to right to score him and make it a 4-2 game.
    It was ruled, however, that the runner kicked catcher B.J. Crone as he crossed the plate and the player was ejected from the game, causing Manhart to play the game under protest.
    Manhart scored one more run in the inning to close its deficit to 4-3.
    Fair Oaks came back in the second for a run as Crone walked to lead off the inning and then stole second with Ott at the plate. Ott grounded to second allowing Crone to reach third and then he scored on Schoenfelder's ground ball to second for a 5-3 lead.
    Manhart kept pace, however, with a run in the top of the third, but the Oaks again came back to score in the bottom of the inning to maintain a two run advantage.
    With one out, Hoppes got a double to left to start things off. Shortstop Rick Patel followed with a walk and then Blanford was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Crone hit a ball to short that was misplayed allowing Hoppes to score for a 6-4 lead.
    Another controversial play occurred in the top of the fifth as Manhart's leadoff batter reached base on a grounder to third that resulted in a low throw to first.
    The next batter took a called strike before he reached the plate as the umpire lost patience with him coming up to bat and instructed Fair Oaks' pitcher to pitch.
    The base runner attempted to steal second and interference was called on the batter as he stood in front of Crone's throw. The call should have resulted in the batter being out, but the umpire instead ruled that the runner just return to first base.
    The batter lined the ball into center for a hit, prompting Fair Oaks manager Don Barney to protest that the batter should have not batted after the interference call.
    After a discussion between umpires, the batter was not only ruled out on the previous play, but another out was awarded for him batting after he was already out. Though correct on the surface, in reality, the next batter should have taken the out. But all turned out correct in the end.
    After all the confusion, the next batter flew out and Fair Oaks came back to score yet another run.
    With two outs, Ott doubled to left center. Schoenfelder followed with another double to score Ott and make it 8-5.
    Manhart went out in order in the top of the sixth and the Oaks came back for their final three runs in the bottom of the inning.
    Hoppes led off with a hit to right, followed by a ground ball to short by Patel. The throw to first, however, got away and Hoppes scored to make it 9-5, with Patel taking second on the play.
    Blanford then hit a double to left center to score Patel. Second baseman Dave Yurchak followed with a hit to right. Blanford tried to score on the play, but was cut down at the plate.
    With Crone at the plate, Yurchak stole second. Crone grounded to short, but beat the throw to first.
    This prompted Manhart to change pitchers, but the new pitcher threw a wild pitch with Ott at the plate allowing Yurchak to score to make it 11-5.
    Yurchak came in to pitch the top of the seventh, but couldn't get any outs, giving up two walks and a hit to load the bases.
    Ott then moved to the mound from left field, but he struggled as well, A fly to right scored one run and then a hit loaded the bases back up. Manhart scored again on a passed ball to make it 11-7 and then Ott gave up another walk.
    Fortunately things settled down after that, as Ott struck out the next two batters to end the game.
    It was Fair Oaks' first win in three tries at Renfree. Both of their previous losses came in the final inning as the opposing teams homered for the winning runs.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
MANHART/KV	1	2	1	1	0	0	2	7	8	2
FAIR OAKS	4	1	1	1	1	3	-	11	12	4

Manhart/KV: N/A
Fair Oaks: Schoenfelder, Yurchak (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x4; Ott 2x4, 2 2B; Schoenfelder 3x5, 3 2B, 4 RBI; Hoppes 3x3, 2B; Blanford 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 6, Chico 2 (League: 15-4, Overall: 22-5) - July 4 @ Fairfield - Fair Oaks stretched its tourney win streak to three games with a 6-2 win over Chico on July 4.
    Chico went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning off Oaks' starter Adam Moshofsky and scored again in the second for a 2-0 lead.
    But the Oaks came back for four runs in the third for a lead they'd never give up en route to the victory.
    Center fielder Jim Ott led off with a walk and then with two outs, designated hitter Nick Palumbo beat out a ground ball to third to put two runners on. Ott scored on a hit by third baseman Justin Hoppes and then left fielder Bryan Lynch tied the game as he brought home Palumbo on a hit to right field.
    First baseman Russ Beldi followed with a hit to right that went off the glove of the right fielder, going for a triple and scoring both Hoppes and Lynch for a 4-2 lead.
    The Oaks made it 5-2 in the fourth as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a hit to left. Ott moved Crone to second with a bunt and with Schoenfelder at the plate, a wild pitch moved Crone to third.
    Schoenfelder walked and the next batter, right fielder Jason Wilkerson was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.
    With two outs, Hoppes drew a walk, forcing in Crone from third to make it a 5-2 game.
    The Oaks' final run scored in the sixth as Ott led off with a hit to right.
    Schoenfelder followed with a ground ball to short that was booted and then Wilkerson walked to load the bases.
    Palumbo's ground ball to second brought home Ott with the Oaks' final run for a 6-2 lead.
    Moshofsky allowed only one hit the rest of the way for the complete-game victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	6	10	1
CHICO	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	2

Fair Oaks: Moshofsky and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x5; Hoppes 2 RBI; Beldi 3B, 2 RBI; Patel 2x4, 2B.
Chico: Freehand, Thomas (7) and Anderson. Top hitters: Mass 2x3; Anderson 2B.

Fair Oaks 8, Yuba 7 (League: 15-4, Overall: 23-5) - July 4 @ Fairfield - In its closest game of the tournament, Fair Oaks managed to squeeze by Yuba 8-7 on the Fourth of July.
    After defeating Chico 6-2 earlier in the day, the Oaks had to be a little tired in their second game of the day, but still managed to put together a winning effort despite a strong comeback try by Yuba.
    Fair Oaks went up 1-0 in the first, but Yuba came back to take the lead with single runs in both the second and third innings. The Oaks responded. however by scoring two runs in the bottom of the third and four in the fourth to take a lead they would never give up, 7-2.
    Yuba did come back to close the gap to 7-6 with a four-run inning of their own in the fifth and then tied the game in the top of the sixth with a single run.
    The Oaks again came back, however, scoring in the bottom of the sixth for the one run victory.
    The game did not continue into the seventh because of the tournament's two-hour time limit.
    Jason Wilkerson led the Oaks at the plate with a three-for-four performance, including a double, home run and three RBI.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
YUBA	0	1	1	0	4	1	7	11	5
FAIR OAKS	1	0	2	4	0	1	8	7	0

Yuba: Johnson, Sandoval (5) and Wood. Top hitters: Glynn 2x3, 2 2B; Catterson 2B; Hall 3x3, 3 RBI; Sandoval 2B; Rosado 3B; Hattrop 3x3, 2 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Olson, Beldi (5), Ott (6) and Hicks. Top hitters: Ott 2x3; Wilkerson 3x4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI.

Fair Oaks 9, New York 4 (League: 15-4, Overall: 24-5) - July 5 @ Fairfield - Fair Oaks continued to roll in the Mr. C Ttournament with a fairly easy victory over a highly touted New York team, 9-4.
    The Oaks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first as center fielder B.J. Crone led off with a walk. A hit to center by first baseman Jim Ott followed and then with two outs, designated hitter Nick Palumbo followed with a walk to load the bases.
    Third baseman Justin Hoppes then sent a fly to left field for what looked like the third out, but New York's left fielder apparently never picked up the ball as it fell in behind him allowing both Crone and Ott to score for a 2-0 lead.
    The Oaks scored a third run for starting pitcher Russ Beldi in the third as shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder led off with a fly to left. This time the left fielder saw the ball, but he dropped it and Schoenfelder was safe on the error.
    With two outs, Hoppes followed with a hit to left field that got by New York's left fielder, scoring Schoenfelder for a 3-0 lead.
    New York finally got on the board in the bottom of the third as a walk, hit batsman and three hits brought home four runs to put New York in the lead 4-3.
    The Oaks came right back, however, scoring two times to jump back ahead, 5-4.
    Second baseman Rick Patel led off with a double to center and was moved to third on a bunt by left fielder Matt Blanford. The play went to third late and both runners were safe.
    Catcher Brad Hicks followed with a ground ball to short that turned into a double play, but Patel scored to tie the game at 4-4. Crone followed with a hit to left and then stole second with Ott at the plate.
    Ott doubled to score Crone and the Oaks again owned the lead with a 5-4 score.
    After Beldi put down New York in order in the bottom of the fourth, the Oaks came back for four more runs for a 9-4 lead.
    Palumbo led off with a walk and moved to second on a bunt by Hoppes. Patel followed with a hit to right, sending Palumbo to third and then Blanford beat out the throw on a grounder to third to load the bases.
    Hicks followed with a ground ball to short that was booted allowing Palumbo to score. Crone then doubled to right to score Patel and Blanford and Ott sent a fly to right that allowed Hicks to score for a 9-4 lead.
    The Oaks didn't score again and Beldi shut down New York the rest of the way for the 9-4 complete-game victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	2	0	1	2	4	0	0	9	13	0
NEW YORK	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	4	7	3

Fair Oaks: Beldi and Hicks. Top hitters: Crone 3x4, 2B, 2 RBI; Ott 2x3, 2B, 2 RBI; Hoppes 2x3, 2B, 2 RBI; Patel 2x4, 2B; Blanford 2x3; Hicks 2B.
New York: Lacey, Delarosa (6) and Elwald. Top hitters: Cebury 2x3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; Elwald 2x4.

Fair Oaks 13, Martinez 5 (League: 15-4, Overall: 25-5) - July 6 @ Napa Valley College - Having finished the regular part of the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record, the Fair Oaks Oaks were matched against Martinez in Sunday's contest to decide who would advance to Monday's championship round.
    Fair Oaks again had no problems picking up a win as they defeated the Martinez team 13-5 at Napa Valley College.
    Fair Oaks went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first as pitcher Jim Ott reached base on an error with one out and advanced to second on shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder's hit to center.
    With two outs, Ott scored on Second baseman Rick Patel's hit to center for the 1-0 lead.
    Martinez evened the game up in the second, but the Oaks came back in the bottom of the inning for two more runs and a 3-1 lead.
    Right fielder Chris Rhines led off with a walk, but was erased on first baseman Russ Beldi's bunt back to the pitcher.
    With two outs, however, Beldi and catcher B.J. Crone scored on Crone's towering home run over the left field fence for a 3-1 Fair Oaks advantage.
    Martinez went out in order in the third and the Oaks came back for three more runs in the bottom of the inning.
    Two straight bad hops to short put Schoenfelder and right fielder Jason Wilkerson on base and then with Patel at the plate, a bad pickoff scored Schoenfelder for a 4-1 lead.
    Patel tripled to center, scoring Wilkerson for a 5-1 game and then center fielder Matt Blanford got a hit to left to score Patel and make it 6-1.
    Martinez came back for two runs in the fourth, but again the Oaks answered back for a pair of their own in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to 8-3.
    With one out, Schoenfelder popped a ball directly over the pitcher's mound, but the pitcher couldn't find it and it dropped in for a hit.
    With two outs, Patel walked and then Blanford tripled to left center to score both runners for the 8-3 lead.
    Martinez closed the gap to 8-5 in the top of the fifth, with Fair Oaks scoring a lone run in the bottom of the inning.
    After groundouts to short by both Beldi and Sean Chopelas, Crone got a hit to left. With Ott at the plate, Crone stole second. Ott walked and then Schoenfelder got a hit to right to score Crone and make it 9-5.
    Martinez went out in order in top of the sixth and the Oaks scored the reaminder of their 13 runs in the bottom of the inning.
    Wilkerson led off with a hit to left and then Patel put down a perfect bunt for a hit to put two runners on. Blanford followed with a home run to left to make it a 12-5 game and then with one out, Beldi got a hit to left.
    With two outs, Crone doubled to center (the ball bounced over the fence) and Beldi scored to make it a 13-5 Fair Oaks lead.
    All Martinez could manage in the top of the seventh off Ott was a two out walk and the Oaks recorded a 13-5 victory to send them into Monday's semi-final against Solano Concrete.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
MARTINEZ	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	5	9	3
FAIR OAKS	1	2	3	2	1	4	-	13	14	0

Martinez: Lacey, Shelton (5) and Sparaco. Top hitters: Murdoch 3x3, 2B; Aimes 2x3, 2B, 2 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Ott and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 3x5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI; Schoenfelder 3x4; Wilkerson 2x4; Patel 3x3, 3B, 2 RBI; Blanford 3x4, 3B, HR, 6 RBI.

Solano Concrete 13, Fair Oaks 9 (League: 15-4, Overall: 25-6) - July 7 @ Napa Valley College - Fair Oaks first loss in the Mr. C Tournament of Champions couldn't have come at a worse time as the Oaks were eliminated in the semi-finals by Solano Concrete, 13-9.
    Fair Oaks was responsible for its own demise, commiting 10 errors and giving up seven unearned runs to a team it had already beat once in the tournament.
    Solano scored four runs in the first inning off Oaks' starter Ryan Reed, but Fair Oaks came back to even the game in the bottom of the inning.
    Solano scored single runs in each of the next four innings to take an 8-4 lead, but again, the Oaks came back with three in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap to 8-7.
    That's when things really fell apart as three errors in the sixth gave Solano five unearned runs for a 13-7 lead.
    The Oaks scored two more in the bottom of the inning, but were blanked in the seventh as Solano escaped with a sloppy 13-9 win.
    Oddly enough, after going undefeated (6-0) in their bracket, the Oaks exited play amongst a semi-final bracket made up of teams entirely from their division.
    Because of the format of the tournament, it was conceivable that a team that didn't win any of the regular games could have snuck in and played for the title. Regular tournament wins only gave you points toward the seeding in Sunday's games, in which the Oaks found themselves in the No. 1 spot.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
SOLANO	4	1	1	1	1	5	0	13	10	2
FAIR OAKS	4	0	0	0	3	2	0	9	9	10

Solano: N/A
Fair Oaks: Reed, Beldi (5), Schoenfelder (6) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone HR; Schoenfelder 3x4, 2B, 2 RBI; Wilkerson 2x4; Hoppes 2 RBI; Palumbo 2 RBI.

Fair Oaks 7, Southside 0 (League: 16-4, Overall: 26-6) - July 8 @ Renfree Field - Fair Oaks took an easy win at Renfree Field as Southside never showed up for the scheduled 4:30 p.m. contest.
The no-show resulted in a 7-0 forfeit win for Fair Oaks, raising the Oaks' record to 16-4 in league play and keeping Post 383 in the running for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7	-	-
SOUTHSIDE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-

Fair Oaks: N/A
Southside: N/A

Fair Oaks 4, El Dorado 1 (League: 17-4, Overall: 27-6) - July 9 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming District 6 playoffs with its 4-1 victory over visiting El Dorado High School.
    Even if Western Division leader Yolo won its final game to give both teams identical 17-4 league records, Fair Oaks would get the nod by virtue of its victory over Yolo in the regular-season.
    Fair Oaks will now face No. 8 seed Citrus Heights in the opening round of the double-elimination playoffs at 7:30 p.m. on July 12. The Oaks beat Citrus Heights in two of their three games this season. All games will be played at Renfree Field.
    Post 383 looked a little flat in its season finale against El Dorado - no wonder after playing eight games in eight days, seven of which were lengthy road trips to Fairfield and Napa.
    The Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as right fielder Jason Wilkerson led off with a hit to right field. Third baseman Justin Hoppes bunted Wilkerson to second and then with two outs, second baseman Ricky Patel's hit to center scored Wilkerson for the lead.
    Fair Oaks Manager Don Barney used his pitching freely in the final game, as Jim Ott replaced starter Adam Moshofsky in the top of the third, with Ott promptly sending El Dorado down in order.
    The Oaks scored again in the fourth off El Dorado's third pitcher of the day as Wilkerson led off with a double to left. Hoppes again bunted Wilkerson over - this time to third - and he scored as Nick Palumbo hit a ball off the third baseman's glove for a 2-0 lead.
    Brandon Olson took the mound in the fifth inning, also getting El Dorado out in order.
    The Oaks responded with their final two runs in the bottom of the inning as catcher B.J. Crone got a one out double and then scored ahead of Ott as Ott slammed a two-run homer over the right center field fence.
    El Dorado's only run came in the top of the seventh on a solo shot over the right field fence with one out. Olson got the second out on a deep fly to left that backed left fielder Bryan Lynch to the fence and then struck out the next batter to end the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
EL DORADO	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	6	1
FAIR OAKS	0	1	0	1	2	0	-	4	8	0

El Dorado: Skogberg, Lorraine (3), Boderhaussen (4), Robertson (6) and Gelhaus. Top hitters: Torres 2x3; Van Winkle HR.
Fair Oaks: Moshkofsky, Ott (3), Olson (5) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2B; Ott HR, 2 RBI; Wilkerson 2x3, 2B; Patel 2x3.

Fair Oaks 17, Citrus Heights 10 (League: 17-4, Overall: 28-6) - July 12 @ Renfree Field - Seven runs in the top of the ninth inning gave Fair Oaks a 17-10 win in the opening game of the District 6 playoffs at Renfree Field.
    The Oaks jumped on Citrus Heights for two runs in the first inning as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a double to center field.
    First baseman Jim Ott followed with a bunt to the pitcher. Ott beat the throw to first, with Crone making his way all the way to third base.
    Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder followed with a hit to right field to score Crone and then right fielder Jason Wilkerson was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
    Third baseman Justin Hoppes then sent a ground ball to first that was booted and Ott scored for the Oaks' 2-0 lead.
    After starting pitcher Adam Moshofsky sent Citrus Heights down in order in the bottom of the first, the Oaks had an even better second inning, scoring five times for a 7-0 lead.
    Center fielder Matt Blanford led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and moved to second on left fielder Bryan Lynch's bunt that went pitcher to first.
    Crone followed with a hit to left and with Ott at the plate stole second. Ott doubled to score both Blanford and Crone to make it 4-0 and then Schoenfelder followed with a hit to center to score Ott to make it 5-0.
    Wilkerson, the next batter, got hit by a pitch and then Hoppes got a hit to left to load the bases.
    Designated hitter Nick Palumbo followed with a hit to left to score Schoenfelder and then Ricky Patel's grounder to third was booted to score Wilkerson for a 7-0 Oaks lead.
    Moshofsky sent Citrus Heights down in order again in the second and the Oaks made it a 9-0 lead in the third as Lynch led off with a hit to left.
    Citrus Heights replaced starting pitcher John Beaven with Jared Watson, who promptly got the next two batters out. But Schoenfelder followed with a double to right center to score Lynch and then with Wilkerson at the plate moved to third on a passed ball. Wilkerson then followed with a fly to right that went off the right fielder's glove and allowed Schoenfelder to score to make it a 9-0 game.
    Citrus Heights came back with a five run third inning to close the gap to 9-5 and added a single run in the fifth to cut Fair Oaks' lead to 9-6.
    The Oaks came back for one run in the top of the sixth, however, as Wilkerson tripled with one out and then scored on Hoppes' bouncer over third.
    Citrus Heights closed the score to 10-7 in the bottom of the sixth and then tied the game in the seventh at 10-10. Moshofsky gave up a leadoff walk in the seventh and was replaced on the mound by Schoenfelder, but Schoenfelder gave up a hit and walk to load the bases with one out and Citrus Heights came back to score three times to tie the game.
    The score remained tied until the top of the ninth when the Oaks exploded for seven runs.
    Lynch led off with a double to right, followed by an intentional walk to Crone and a bunt by Ott that turned into a hit on a low throw to first. The play scored Lynch to make it 11-10 and then Scoenfelder doubled to score Crone and Ott to make it 13-10.
    Schoenfelder advanced to third on Wilkerson's fly to right and then scored on Hoppes' fly to left to make it 14-10.
    Russ Beldi followed with a double to center field and then Patel's hit to left center for a double scored Beldi.
    Blanford followed with a triple to left to score Patel and then Lynch tripled, scoring Blanford for the Oaks' 17-10 lead.
    Brandon Olson replaced Ott on the mound for the ninth inning. Ott had come in to start the eighth against Citrus Heights, replacing Schoenfelder. Despite giving up two hits and a walk to load the bases, Olson got out of the inning with the Oaks' 17-10 lead intact for the win.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	2	5	2	0	0	1	0	0	7	17	21	1
C. HEIGHTS	0	0	5	0	1	1	3	0	0	10	7	3

Fair Oaks: Moshofsky, Schoenfelder (7), Ott (8), Olson (9) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x5, 2B; Ott 3x6, 2 RBI; Schoenfelder 4x6, 2 2B, 5 RBI; Wilkerson 2x4, 3B; Hoppes 2x4, 2 RBI; Beldi 2B; Patel 2x6, 2B; Blanford 3B; Lynch 3x4, 2B, 3B.
Citrus Heights: Beaven, Watson (3) and Dimopolus, Lancaster (5). Top hitters: Tompkins 2B, 2 RBI; Polan 2x3; Williams 2x4, 3B, 3 RBI; McConaha 2x4.

Elk Grove 15, Fair Oaks 8 (League: 17-4, Overall: 28-7) - July 13 @ Renfree Field - Despite gaining a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Fair Oaks played catch up for most of its game against Elk Grove, eventually losing a 15-8 decision in the second round of the District 6 playoffs.
    Catcher B.J. Crone led off the game with a double to left and moved to third on pitcher Jim Ott's bunt. Crone scored on a hit up the middle by shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder and then cleanup hitter Jason Wilkerson slammed a home run over the center field fence for a 3-0 Oaks lead.
    Unfortunately for Fair Oaks, Elk Grove came back to score five runs in the bottom of the first to take a lead they'd never give up.
    Fair Oaks did tie the game in the second as left fielder Bryan Lynch led off with a triple and then scored on Crone's double to right. Crone moved to third on a bunt by Ott and then scored on a wild pitch with Wilkerson at the plate to tie the game at 5-5.
    Elk Grove came right back to score three more runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-5 lead, however.
    With one out, Ott, who had pitched in relief the night before, was touched for a double, triple and double to bring home two runs. Brandon Olson came in to replace Ott on the mound and after gaining one out, gave up a hit to score the third run of the inning for an 8-5 Elk Grove lead.
    Fair Oaks got one run back in the fourth as Crone drew a one out walk. An errant pickoff play put Crone on third and then Schoenfelder's two out grounder to deep short scored Crone as Schoenfelder beat the throw to first.
    Elk Grove came back for a run in the bottom of the fourth, three more in the fifth and two in the sixth for a 14-6 lead.
    Fair Oaks closed the gap to 14-8 in the eighth as third baseman Justin Hoppes was hit by a pitch to start things off. A wild pitch with Ricky Patel at the plate sent Hoppes to second and then he scored on Patel's double to left center.
    With center fielder Matt Blanford at the plate, a balk sent Patel to third and then Blanford's ground out second to first scored Patel to make it 14-8.
    Elk Grove came back for a single run in the bottom of the eighth off Dave Yurchak, who replaced Ott in the seventh, for a 15-8 lead.
    The Oaks failed to score in the ninth despite a leadoff hit by Crone and Elk Grove held on to win the game 15-8, sending Fair Oaks into the loser's bracket.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	8	12	1
ELK GROVE	5	3	0	1	3	2	0	1	-	15	20	2

Fair Oaks: Ott, Olson (2), Yurchak (7) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 3x4, 2B; Schoenfelder 3x5, 2 RBI; Wilkerson HR, 2 RBI; Hoppes 2x3; Patel 2x4, 2B; Lynch 3B.
Elk Grove: Marzion, Crandall (7) and Tonis. Top hitters: Boyle 2x5; Fender 2x5, 2B; Tonis 2x4, 2 2B; Ford 3x5, 4 RBI, HR, 2B; Clark 4x4, 5 RBI, 3B, HR; McIntyre 3x5, 3 RBI, 2B; Rose 2x4.

Fair Oaks 7, Post 61 2 (League: 17-4, Overall: 29-7) - July 14 @ Renfree Field - Post 383 kept its title hopes alive with a 7-2 victory over Post 61 in Game 3 of the District 6 playoffs.
    The Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as right fielder Jason Wilkerson led off with a walk. A passed ball with third baseman Justin Hoppes at the plate sent Wilkerson to second and then Hoppes' hit up the middle sent Wilkerson home for a 1-0 lead, with Hoppes taking second on the throw to the plate.
    Post 61 tied things up in the bottom of the second with a solo home run to left by Ryan Tash off Oaks' starter Russ Beldi, but Beldi didn't let the blow bother him as he shut Post 61 down over the next three innings.
    The Oaks went back in the lead in the fifth as designated hitter Nick Palumbo led off with a walk. Center fielder Matt Blanford moved him to second with a bunt and with two outs, Palumbo scored on an error on a ground ball hit by first baseman Jim Ott to give the Oaks a 2-1 lead.
    Post 61 came back in the bottom of the inning to tie, once again, and the score stayed knotted at 2-2 until the seventh when Fair Oaks scored four times take a 6-2 lead.
    Palumbo led off with a hit to left. Blanford got hit by a pitch and Bryan Lynch walked to load the bases.
    The next batter, Chris Rhines, sent a ground ball to short. The throw went to second for the force, but the relay to first was low and got away allowing both Palumbo and Blanford to score for a 4-2 lead. Ott followed with a double to center, forcing starting pitcher Jonathon Samlley off the mound in favor of Howie Correa.
    Correa got Garrett Schoenfelder to ground out, but then Jason Wilkerson hit a ball to short that was booted, allowing both Rhines and Ott to score for a 6-2 lead.
    The Oaks added their final run in the top of the ninth as Ott led off with a double to right center. Schoenfelder was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but Wilkerson then hit into a double play to erase Schoenfelder and himself from the bases.
    Hoppes followed with a double to left center to score Ott, however, making it a 7-2 lead for the Oaks.
    Post 61 failed to get anything going in the bottom of the ninth and the Oaks recorded the 7-2 victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	1	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	7	8	1
POST 61	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	8	5

Fair Oaks: Beldi, Ott (6) and Crone, Palumbo (6). Top hitters: Ott 2x5, 2 2B; Hoppes 2x4, 2B, 2 RBI; Palumbo 2x4.
Post 61: Smalley, Corea (7) and Watts. Top hitters: Tash 2x3, HR; Schultz 2B.

Fair Oaks 8, Citrus Heights 4 (League: 17-4, Overall: 30-7) - July 15 @ Renfree Field - In their second meeting of the District 6 championships, Fair Oaks again defeated Citrus Heights to eliminate their cross-town rival from the tournament.
    It was a close game until the late innings as Fair Oaks scored first and held a slim 2-0 lead in the third inning.
    Center fielder Matt Blanford led off the inning with a hit to second that slipped under the infielder's glove. With one out, catcher B.J. Crone hit a fly to right that was dropped and then Blanford scored as first baseman Jim Ott hit a bouncer to short that went off the glove of the shortstop. Crone tagged and scored on shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder's sacrifice to right to give the Oaks the 2-0 lead.
    A walk and a double off Oaks starter Ryan Reed gave Citrus Heights its first run in the bottom of the inning, however, cutting the Oaks' lead in half.
    Fair Oaks got the run back in the fifth as Crone led off with a double to left center and took third on a wild pitch with Ott at the plate.
    Ott's sacrifice to center allowed Crone to score to give the Oaks a 3-1 lead.
    Fair Oaks finally broke the game open with another pair of runs in the seventh as Schoenfelder started things off with a one out hit. Jason Wilkerson followed with another hit to drive Citrus Heights starter Chad Williams out of the game in favor of Jared Watson.
    Watson tried to make a pickoff to second, but the ball got away from the shortstop allowing both runners to advance. Third baseman Justin Hoppes then hit a ball off the glove of the shortstop to score Schoenfelder and then Rick Patel's sacrifice to center brought home Wilkerson for a 5-1 lead.
    Citrus Heights came right back, however,scoring twice to close the gap to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
    The Oaks put three more runs on the board in the ninth for an 8-3 lead as Ott led off with a hit to left.
    Ott stole second with Schoenfelder at the plate and went to third on the throw as it went into center field. Schoenfelder's hit to left scored Ott and then with Wilkerson at the plate, Schoenfelder stole second.
    Wilkerson was hit by a pitch and then with Hoppes at the plate, a wild pitch advanced both runners.
    Schoenfelder scored on Hoppes' fly to right and the next batter, Patel, got a hit to center to score Wilkerson and give Fair Oaks an 8-3 lead.
    Schoenfelder came in to pitch the ninth, replacing Ott, who had taken the mound the previous inning. Citrus Heights managed one run in the bottom of the ninth to pull the score to 8-4 with two outs, but Schoenfelder struck out the final batter to end the game and eliminate Citrus Heights from the tournament.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	3	8	12	2
C. HEIGHTS	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	4	9	5

Fair Oaks: Reed, Ott (8), Schoenfelder (9) and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 2x6, 2B; Ott 2x3, 2 RBI; Schoenfelder 2x4, 2 RBI; Hoppes 2 RBI; Patel 2 RBI; Blanford 2x5.
Citrus Heights: Williams, Watson (7), Williams (8) and Lancaster. Top hitters: Tompkins 2x5, 2B; Polan 3x5, 3B, 2 RBI; Stockbridge 2x3; Scott 2B.

Fair Oaks 8, Elk Grove 5 (League: 17-4, Overall: 31-7) - July 16 @ Renfree Field - Eureka! They found it! A way to get to Eureka for the Area One playoffs, at least.
    All Fair Oaks needed to do was gain a victory over Elk Grove to advance to the Area One playoffs in Eureka and that's exactly what Post 383 did as they defeated Elk Grove 8-5 in the semi-finals of the District 6 Championships.
    Of course, a loss would have ended the Oaks' season, so Post 383 showed the team they were and came up with the victory.
    Sophomore Adam Moshofsky had perhaps his best outing ever, pitching a complete game and getting out of several tight situations against the heavy-hitting Elk Grove team.
    The Oaks jumped on Elk Grove starter Mike Forsyth for four runs in the first inning as catcher B.J. Crone led off with a hit to left field.
    First baseman Jim Ott followed with a walk and then shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
    Cleanup hitter Jason Wilkerson was also hit to force in Crone for a 1-0 lead and then third baseman Justin Hoppes' ground ball to second scored Ott to make it 2-0.
    Schoenfelder and Wilkerson scored on second baseman Ricky Patel's hit to right center to give the Oaks a 4-0 advantage.
    Elk Grove loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but failed to score and the Oaks came back for four more runs in the top of the second inning.
    Left fielder Bryan Lynch led off with a walk and then with one out, walks to Ott and Schoenfelder loaded the bases.
    Wilkerson followed with a hit to center field, scoring Lynch and driving Forsyth from the mound.
    The new pitcher, Brad Crandall, got a ground ball out of Hoppes, but the throw from third to second was thrown away and both Ott and Schoenfelder scored for a 7-0 lead.
    The next batter, Patel, hit a ball to short. The throw went to second, but was juggled and Wilkerson scored to make it an 8-0 game.
    Elk Grove went out in order in the bottom of the inning, including two strikeouts by Moshofsky.
    Post 233 did come back to score four runs in the third, however, to cut the Oaks lead in half, and added a fifth run in the fourth to make it an 8-5 game. That was to be all Elk Grove would get, however, as both teams were shut out the rest of the way.
    Moshofsky held Elk Grove to only two hits and two walks the rest of the way, including a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.     Fair Oaks wasted several opportunites to score down the stretch, including a two out double by Nick Palumbo in the sixth and a leadoff double by Wilkerson in the eighth.
    Fortunately, the runs weren't needed, and Moshofsky and the Oaks recorded the win to advance to the championship game on Thursday against unbeaten No. 7 seed Charles Eggen.
    Originally, an "if necessary" game had been scheduled to follow Thursday's first game should the loser's bracket team win.
    Due to a schedule conflict, however, Friday's All-Star game was moved to the Thursday slot scheduled for that game and if Fair Oaks wins its meeting against Charles Eggen, a co-championship will be declared and the Area One seeding will be decided by a coin toss.
    In any case, both teams will advance to the July 23-27 Area One Tournament in Eureka.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	9	2
ELK GROVE	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	2

Fair Oaks: Moshkofsky and Crone. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x3; Wilkerson 2x4, 2B, 3 RBI; Patel 2 RBI; Palumbo 2B.
Elk Grove: Forsyth, Crandall (2), Marzion (8) and Tonis. Top hitters: Rose 2x4; Fender 3x5, 2 RBI; Tonis 4x5, 2B.

Charles Eggen 12, Fair Oaks 11 (League: 17-4, Overall: 31-8) - July 17 @ Renfree Field - Surprising Charles Eggen continued to dominate the District playoffs as they defeated Fair Oaks 12-11 to take the District 6 Championship.
    Eggen was the No. 7 seed entering the tournament, but swept through the playoffs as the only undefeated team in taking the championship from Fair Oaks.
    Eggen scored once in the first and three times in the second to go up 4-0 on the Oaks and starting pitcher Russ Beldi, but the Oaks cut the deficit to 4-3 with a three run third inning.
    Center fielder B.J. Crone led off with a home run to center and then with one out, shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder hit a solo shot to left center to make it a 4-2 game.
    With two outs, third baseman Justin Hoppes walked and then consecutive hits by second baseman Ricky Patel and catcher Nick Palumbo scored Hoppes to make it 4-3.
    Eggen came back in the bottom of the inning, however, to score three more runs for a 7-3 lead, driving Beldi off the mound in favor of Brandon Olson.
    Another run followed in the fourth and despite several scoring opportunities on both sides, neither team scored again until the seventh when the Oaks exploded for eight runs off two different Eggen pitchers.
    Patel led off with a hit to right, followed by walks to Palumbo and left fielder Chris Rhines to load the bases.
    This prompted an Eggen pitching change, but the next batter - designated hitter Sean Chopelas - also drew a walk, forcing in Patel for an 8-4 score.
    Crone then hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Palumbo and the runners kept parading around the bases as Jim Ott, Schoenfelder, Jason Wilkerson, Hoppes and Patel hit consecutive singles to make it a 10-8 Fair Oaks lead.
    Palumbo broke the string with his second walk of the inning to load the bases and then Rhines got a hit to score Hoppes and give the Oaks an 11-8 lead.
    Eggen managed to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but only got one run out of it to make it 11-9.
    Charles Eggen then closed the gap to 11-10 with a walk and two hits in the bottom of the eighth.
    Fair Oaks manager Don Barney removed Olson from the mound, with Crone coming in from center field to pitch.
    He gave up a hit to the first batter he faced, however, and two runs came home to give Eggen a 12-11 lead.
    The Oaks faced yet another Charles Eggen pitcher - Jeremy Hensley - in the top of the ninth, but Post 383 could manage only a single hit as Palumbo stroked a two out single to center field. Rhines then struck out to end the game and the Oaks' quest for the District 6 title was over.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	3	0	0	0	8	0	0	11	16	3
C. EGGEN	1	3	3	1	0	0	1	3	-	12	19	1

Fair Oaks: Beldi, Olson (3), Crone (8) and Palumbo. Top hitters: Crone 2x4, HR, 2 RBI; Schoenfelder 2x6, HR, 2 RBI; Wilkerson 2x5, 2B; Patel 4x6; Palumbo 2x4.
Charles Eggen: Robinson, Parks (3), Miller (6), Blair (7), Hensley (9) and Evans. Top hitters: Olson 3x5; Topham 2x5; Penso 3x5, 2 RBI; Miller 2x5, 2B; Evans 2B; Blair 3x4; Fitzgerald 3x5.

Fair Oaks 12, Shasta Lake 3 (League: 17-4, Overall: 32-8) - July 23 @ Eureka, CA - Fair Oaks easily handled its opening day opponent in the Area 1 Playoffs in Eureka, CA, with a 12-3 win.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
SHASTA	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	5
FAIR OAKS	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	8	-	12	12	0

Shasta Lake: Marques, Waren (8) and Lake. Top hitters: Warren 2x3; Lake 3x5; Hardden 2B, 2 RBI, Cluck 2x4. Note: Linescores were taken from The Sacramento Bee and are obviously incorrect. Shasta was listed as having one hit, but hits listed above add up to at least eight.
Fair Oaks: Ott, Olson (9) and Crone. Top hitters: Ott 3x4, 2 RBI; Wilkerson 2B; Hoppes 2x5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Lynch 2x4, HR, 2 RBI; Schoenfelder 2x5, 2B, 2 RBI; Crone 2x4.
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Fair Oaks 9, Solano Concrete 2 (League: 17-4, Overall: 33-8) - July 24 @ Eureka, CA - For the third time in four meetings over the past two years, Fair Oaks was victorious over Solano Concrete. This time it was a 9-2 win in the Area 1 Playoffs in Eureka.
    The game was tied at 2-2 in the third inning, but three Fair Oaks runs in the fourth put the Oaks up 5-2 for a lead they would never give up.
    Post 383 scored once in the eighth and three more in the ninth for the 9-2 win to keep them in the winner's bracket of the tourney.
    Adam Moshofsky pitched another great game for Fair Oaks, striking out nine batters and at one time retiring 15 consecutive Solano hitters.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	1	0	1	3	0	0	0	1	3	9	9	2
SOLANO	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	4

Fair Oaks: Moshofsky and Crone. Top hitters: Crone 3x4; Hoppes 2B; Patel 2x5, 2B, 2 RBI; Blanford 2B.
Solano: Carlock, Towley (7) and Pickett. Top hitters: Williams 2x4.
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Auburn 7, Fair Oaks 2 (League: 17-4, Overall: 33-9) - July 25 @ Eureka, CA - Auburn remained the only undefeated team in the Area 1 Playoffs with a 7-2 victory over Fair Oaks on Friday.
All seven runs were scored in the first three innings, with Auburn jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first, and scoring four more runs in the third.
Fair Oaks' only scoring in the game came with Post 383 scoring single runs in the sixth and eighth innings.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	7	2
AUBURN	3	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	-	7	9	2

Fair Oaks: Reed, Olson (3) and Crone. Top hitters: Schoenfelder 2x5, 2B; Wilkerson HR; Hoppes, 2B.
Auburn: Tingley, Steinback (9) and Rogers. Top hitters: Bast 2x5; Graham 2x4, 2B; Larson 2x5, 3B.
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Charles Eggen 6, Fair Oaks 5 (League: 17-4, Overall: 33-10) - July 26 @ Eureka, CA - Fair Oaks' 1997 season ended with a 6-5 loss to Charles Eggen in the Area 1 Playoffs in Eureka.
Fair Oaks led 2-1 after three innings, but a pair of runs by Charles Eggen in the fourth and a single run in the fifth put Eggen ahead for good.
The Oaks tied the game in the seventh with a pair of runs, but Eggen answered back in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own to take a 6-4 lead. Fair Oaks managed only one run in the eighth and Eggen held on for the 6-5 win to eliminate Fair Oaks from the tournament.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	5	12	0
C. EGGEN	1	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	-	6	11	3

Fair Oaks: Ott and Crone. Top hitters: Hoppes 2x4; Schoenfelder 2x5, 2B; Wilkerson 2B; Ott 2x2; Belde 2B; Blanford 2x4, 2B.
Chas. Eggen: Parks, Haisley (8) and Evans. Top hitters: Tophan 2x3; Penso 2x2; Fitzgerald 3x3, 2 RBI; Evans 2x3, 2B.

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