Oaks pitcher John Constance delivers the ball toward a batter in Post 383's 9-1 victory over West Sacramento in Fair Oaks' opening game of the 2007 Memorial Day Tournament at Land Park. Photo by Joe Blenkle

Fair Oaks 9, West Sacramento 1 (League: 0-0, Overall: 1-0) - May 26 @ Land Park - Fair Oaks Post 383 opened its 2007 American Legion baseball season with a 9-1 win over West Sacramento in the Memorial Day Tournament at William Land Park.
    The Oaks played shorthanded due to the fact that Bella Vista High School is still in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Playoffs. Bella Vista plays Yuba City for the championship on Monday, the same day the tournament ends. The Oaks will not be able to field its full team until after the playoffs are over.
    Fair Oaks opened up a 2-0 lead in the first inning as shorstop Keith Jennette got a one out hit to center field. With two outs, Jennette moved to third on a hit to right by catcher Bret Gibson.  Demetre Losoya ran for Gibson and both runners scored on a double to right by left fielder Josh Glaser.
    Starting pitcher John Constance put West Sacramento down in order in the top of the second and the Oaks added four more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 6-0 lead.
    Center fielder Brian Stamps led off with a hit to left. With right fielder Steven Langford at the plate, Stamps stole second. Langford walked to put two runners on and then Stamps moved to third on a groundout by designated hitter Mark Lincoln. Second baseman Greg Polanski followed with a walk to load the bases and then Stamps scored as Jennette walked to force the runner in. First baseman Mark Sanchez was the next batter, slapping a hit up the middle to score Langford and Polanski to make it 5-0. Gibson's sacrifice to left allowed Jennette to tag and score from third to bring the Oaks' tally to 6-0.
    The Oaks added two more runs in the fourth as Lincoln led off with a base hit just under the glove of the third baseman. With one out, Jennette walked and then a wild pitch to Sanchez allowed both runners to advance. Sanchez got a hit to center to score Lincoln and Gibson followed with a hit to left to score Jennette and make it an 8-0 game.
    Lincoln came in to pitch the fifth inning and immediately got in trouble giving up two walks and a hit to score West Sacramento's first - and only - run to make it 8-1. With one out, another walk loaded the bases, but then Lincoln struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
    Fair Oaks scored its final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth as Stamps got on via a one out error and was moved over on a hit by Casey Harms. Lincoln's fly to center allowed Stamps to score and the Oaks took a 9-1 lead.
    Each team got a hit in the sixth, but neither came close to scoring. Lyle Hobart came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh for the Oaks giving up a walk and a hit before sandwiching a ground out between a pair of strikeouts to end the game.   

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

West Sacramento: Pitching - O'Brien, E. Gualco (3), Conneley (4) and Lewis. Top Hitters - Wagner 2x4, Coons 2x3.
Fair Oaks: Pitching - Constance, Lincoln (5), Hobart (7) and Gibson. Top Hitters - Jennette 2x2; Sanchez 2x4, 3 RBI; Gibson 2x3, 2 RBI; Glaser 2B, 2 RBI.