Fair Oaks 6, Grass Valley 5 (League: 10-7, Overall: 11-9) - July 7 @ Renfree Field - What a difference a week makes! After getting crushed by Grass Valley the week before, 16-8, Fair Oaks met GV in a doubleheader at Renfree Field on July 7, sweeping the visiting team 6-5 and 14-4.
    In the opening game, Grass Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Oaks' starting pitcher Ryan Mink got off to a bit of a shaky start.
    Fair Oaks came back in the bottom of the second inning, however, to take a 4-2 lead as right fielder Joe Liebman started things off with a hit to left field. Third baseman Joe Caffrey followed with a walk and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Aaron Yurchak. Catcher Doug Matlack then got a hit to center field to score both runners and tie the game at 2-2. With two out and second baseman Nic DeRose at the plate, a passed ball moved Matlack to second. DeRose walked, as did the next batter, left fielder Todd Jennings. With the bases loaded, shortstop John Perkins got a hit to left to score Matlack and DeRose and make it a 4-2 game.
    Ross Elmendorf replaced Mink on the mound to start the fourth inning and after striking out the first batter he faced, two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases. A base hit followed to score one run, but another strike out and fly to right field ended the inning with the Oaks still ahead 4-3.
    Fair Oaks went up 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, center fielder L.J. Sneath beat out a ball hit to short. Sneath moved to second on a groundout by DeRose and then with Jennings at the plate a pair of wild pitches scored Sneath to make it a 5-3 game.
    Grass Valley scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 5-5. In the top of the seventh, Jeff Williams, who had taken the mound the inning before, got into trouble, giving up a leadoff bunt for a hit and a one out walk. Alex Graham came in to relieve Williams, striking out both batters he faced to end the inning.
    Fair Oaks came up with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh as DeRose led off with a hit to center field. Jennings followed with a bunt down the first base line for a hit and then Perkins bunted both runners over. Robert Wilkerson came up next and was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force play at any bag. The Oaks' next batter had other plans, however, as Eric Battenberg sent a hit into left field that scored DeRose with the winning run.

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

Grass Valley: Pitching - Larkins and Van Mater. Top Hitters - Larkins 3x4, 2B; Andrews 2x3, 2 RBI; Van Son 2x4.
Faie Oaks: Pitching - Mink, Elmendorf (4), Williams (6), Graham (7) and Matlack. Top Hitters - Perkins 2 RBI; Liebman 2B; Matlack 2 RBI.