Keith Jennette lays down a bunt in the third inning of the Oaks game against Union City.  The play came home for an out at the plate, but the Oks went on to score five runs in a lopsided 10-2 victory.

Fair Oaks 10, Union City 2 (League: 11-3, Overall: 17-5-1) - July 2 @ Laurel Creek Park, Fairfield - Defending WABF Tournament Champion Fair Oaks took its first step toward a repeat title on Sunday with a 10-2 victory over Union City at Laurel Creek Park in Fairfield.
    The Oaks staked starting pitcher Steve Rinaudo to a five run lead in the third inning as shortstop Chris Dennison led off the inning with a triple to right center field.
    Rinaudo followed with a walk forcing Union City into an early pitching change. Second baseman Keith Jennette was the next batter and he put down a bunt toward first. The ball rolled a little too quickly to the fielder, however, and the play came home to get Dennison at the plate for the first out of the inning.
    Then with two outs, first baseman Andrew LeDuc doubled to score both Rinaudo and Jennette for a 2-0 lead. Right fielder Mike Sanchez followed with a hit to left to score LeDuc, with Sanchez taking second on the throw home.
    Catcher Jesse Olson then hit a ball to second, but Union City's second baseman couldn't pick it up in time for a throw and Olson was safe at first. Left fielder Chris Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then  third baseman Greg Polanski walked to force in Sanchez to make it a 4-0 lead. With Dennison at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Olson to come in to score to make it a 5-0 game.
    A pair of hits and an errant pickoff led to Union City's first run of the game in the bottom of the third, but the Oaks got it back in the fourth as Rinaudo hit a leadoff home run to make it 6-1 and force another Union City pitching change.
    Rinaudo put UC down in order in the bottom of the fourth and the Oaks came back to score two more runs in the fifth as Olson led off the inning getting hit by a pitch. Johnson followed with a double that sent Olson to third and then with Polanski at the plate a wild pitch sent Johnson to third and scored Olson to make it 7-1. Polanski flew deep to center and Johnson tagged and scored to give the Oaks an 8-1 lead.
    Brian Garber came in to pitch for the Oaks in the bottom of the fifth and hit the first batter he faced. Two groundouts followed, but that moved the runner to third and a hit to right field scored Union City's second run of the game to make it 8-2.
    The Oaks faced yet another UC pitcher in the top of the sixth, but scored two more times for their ninth and 10th runs of the game. Jennette led off with a hit to center followed by a walk to center fielder Kyle Richardson. Jennette moved to third on a fly to right by Bret Gibson who had come in to catch in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Mark Lincoln singled to left to score Jennette and make it a 9-2 game. Johnson followed with a pop on the infield that looked to be the third out, but the ball dropped in and the bases were loaded. Robert Butler's grounder to shortstop was bobbled and Richardson scored and the Oaks took a 10-2 lead.
    Union City went down in order in the bottom of the sixth. John Constance took the mound in the seventh for the Oaks and also put UC down 1-2-3 to give the Oaks a 10-2 victory.


TEAM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
FAIR OAKS
0
0
5
1
2
2
0
10
11
1
UNION CITY
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
4
1


Fair Oaks: Pitching - Rinaudo, Garber (5), Constance (7) and Olson, Gibson (5). Top Hitters - Rinaudo HR; Jennette 2x5; Richardson 2B; LeDuc 2B, 2 RBI; Johnson 2x2, 2B; Dennison 3B; Polanski 2 RBI.
Union City: Pitching - Reeves, Anderson (3), Hoffman (4), Purchio (6), Montano (7) and Rodriguez, Zurai (6).  Top hitters - Reeves 2B.