Mickey Weisser watches a high pitch go by in Post 383's game against Oakland on Sunday, July 7, at the Peppermill Classic in Reno, Nevada. The Oaks won the game 10-7 to stay undefeated in the tourney.
Fair Oaks 10, Oakland 7 (League: 15-6, Overall: 20-6) - July 7 @ Reno - RENO, Nev. - The Oaks stayed unbeaten in the Peppermill Classic with a 10-7 victory over the Oakland Oaks at Wooster High School in Reno.
Oakland got a 1-0 lead off Oaks' starter Garrett Holtzen in the first inning, but the Oaks came back to go up 3-1 in the bottom of the inning and never looked back.
Shortstop Josh Thompson led off with a double to left field and with center fielder Steve Snider at the plate, Thompson stole second. Snider walked to put two runners on and then right fielder Bill Rhinehart smashed a ball to second. Oakland's second baseman couldn't field the ball and Thompson scored. The next batter, first baseman Devin Spurling, hit a ball to third. Snider was tagged out, but a bad throw to first resulted in Spurling reaching second and Rhinehart advancing to third.
Both runners scored for a 3-1 lead as designated hitter Charles Smith pounded the ball to right for a double.
Oakland crept back to within one with a run in the top of the second, but the Oaks answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Second baseman A.J. Vidlund singled to right to start things off. He moved to second on a bunt by third baseman Derek Chase. Thompson followed with a ground ball to third. The throw went to second too late to get Vidlund going back into the bag. With two outs, Rhinehart walked to load the bases and then a ground ball to short by Spurling scored Vidlund as the ball was thrown to second too late to get Rhinehart.
The Oaks added three more runs in the fourth as Rhinehart homered to right center with one out to start things off. Spurling then hit a ball to left that was dropped allowing Spurling to make it to second. Smith walked and then with two outs, catcher Doug Matlack hit a ball to second that was booted allowing Spurling to score for a 6-2 lead.
The final run of the inning came in as Vidlund lined a hit off the infield umpire to load the bases. Then with Chase at the plate, a wild pitch brought in Smith for a 7-2 Fair Oaks lead.
Holtzen put down Oakland in order in the fifth and the Oaks came back for three more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 10-2 lead.
Thompson was hit by a pitch to start things off and then a walk to Snider prompted an Oakland pitching change. The new hurler, however, gave up a triple to Rhinehart to score Thompson and Snider to make it 9-2. Then with one out, Rhinehart scored on a ground ball to second by pinch hitter Andrew Gallagher.
Oakland rallied for five runs in the sixth to bring the score to 10-7, but Holtzen kept the Oaks in the lead moving into the final inning. After a leadoff walk to the Oakland team in the seventh, Holtzen was replaced on the mound by Smith. Smith walked the first batter he faced, but then struck out the next two and got a ground ball to third to end the game and give the Oaks the 10-7 victory.
The win put Fair Oaks into the championship game which was scheduled for the following day -- unfortunately the Oaks were scheduled to leave after Sunday's contest, but finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.
TEAM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
OAKLAND
1
1
0
0
5
0
0
7
7
2
FAIR OAKS
3
1
0
3
3
0
-
10
12
2
Oakland: Pitching - Not Available. Top Hitters - Not Available. Fair Oaks: Pitching - Holtzen, Smith (7) and Matlack. Top Hitters - Thompson 2x4; Rhinehart 3x3, HR; Vidlund 4x4; Smith 2 RBI.
