West Sacramento 18, Fair Oaks 17 (League: 0-1, Overall: 1-1) - June 2 @ Davis Playfield - West Sacramento overcame an 11-0 deficit to spoil Fair Oaks' league opener in Davis, 18-17. Errors played a big part in the high-scoring game, as each team had five miscues.
    Fair Oaks gave starting pitcher Josh Gibson a 2-0 lead in the second inning as shortstop Ricky Alonso led off the inning with a hit to right field. With second baseman Aaron Yurchak at the plate, Alonso stole second and then went to third on Yurchak's hit to center. Yurchak stole second with first baseman Bob Churchill at the plate. Churchill struck out, but the next batter, left fielder Tim Cook got a hit to left center to score both runners for the 2-0 lead.
    The Oaks added another pair of runs in the third as catcher Doug Matlack led off with a ground ball to third, beating the throw to first for a hit. Center fielder L.J. Sneath followed with a home run over the center field fence to make it a 4-0 game.
    Gibson sent West Sacramento down in order in the bottom of the third and the Oaks continued their attack in the fourth, running up an 11-0 lead.
    Yurchak started things off with a hit to left and then Churchill followed with a ball to second that eliminated Yurchak. With Cook at the plate, Churchill stole second and scored on Cook's hit up the middle. A wild pitch with right fielder Matt Pudge at the plate sent Cook to second and he scored on Pudge's hit to left to make it 6-0. Pudge went to third on a Matlack double to left and both runners scored on Sneath's hit to left to make it 8-0.
    Third baseman Joe Liebman followed with a hit to center, scoring Sneath who had previously taken second on a wild pitch. The onslaught continued as designated hitter Alex Graham got a hit to left. An Alonso ground ball to second resulted in an error allowing both Liebman and Graham to score to make it an 11-0 game.
    West Sacramento came back in the bottom of the inning to score eight runs and drive Gibson off the mound in favor of Robert Barrett. Barrett entered with two outs and got the first batter he faced to fly out to center to end the inning and leave the Oaks with an 11-8 lead.
    The Oaks went up 12-8 in the sixth as Sneath hit a ground ball to third and beat the throw. Liebman then doubled to score him to give the Oaks a four run lead.
    West Sacramento scored two more in the sixth to make it 12-10, but the Oaks came back for a run of their own in the seventh to make it 13-10. Yurchak was hit by a pitch to start things off, but was forced out on a ground ball back to the pitcher by Churchill. Cook followed with a hit to left center to send Churchill to third. With Pudge at the plate, the Oaks put on their trademark "pickoff" play. Cook purposely got caught in a rundown beatween first and second and Churchill charged for home at just the right moment, beating the throw to score the Oaks 13th run. Cook, meanwhile, dove back into first safely ahead of the return throw to complete the play.
    The bottom fell out in the eighth, however, as West Sacramento came back to score eight times to take an 18-13 lead. After a walk and a double to open the inning, Bryce Schimmel came in to relieve Barrett, but he was ineffective as eight runs scored on a series of hits, walks and errors. Yurchak relieved Schimmel late in the inning, but another error gave West Sacramento another run before Yurchak was able to close the door with the Oaks trailing 18-13.
    The Oaks made a run at it in the top of the ninth as Churchill was hit by a pitch with one out. Cook then hit a ball to third that was booted and with two outs, Schimmel walked on four straight pitches to load the bases.
    Sneath then came to the plate and belted a grand slam home run over the center field fence to make it an 18-17 game. The next batter, Liebman, reached on an error to keep the inning alive. Ricky LaFavor was inserted at first as a pinch runner as Graham came to the plate. With a one ball, one strike count, a passed ball moved LaFavor to second. Graham carried the count to 3-2, but then sent a grounder to short. The throw hit its mark at first to end the game and give West Sacramento an 18-17 victory.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FAIR OAKS	0	2	2	7	0	1	1	0	4	17	17	5
W. SACRAMENTO	0	0	0	8	0	2	0	8	x	18	15	5

Fair Oaks: Pitching - Gibson, Barrett (4), Schimmel (8), Yurchak (8) and Matlack. Top Hitters - Sneath 3x4, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Liebman 3x6, 2B, 2 RBI; Matlack 2B; Churchill 2B; Cook 3x5, 3 RBI.
W. Sacramento: Pitching - Welson, C. Cabral (4) and King. Top Hitters - Keith 2x4, HR, 3 RBI; Tacdol 4x6, 2B, 2 RBI; King 2x4, 2 2B; Mistler 2B, 3 RBI; A. Cabral 2x4, 2B; Ericson 2B.