Jon Lang dives back into first ahead of the throw in the fifth inning of the Oaks game against Yolo.  Fair Oaks scored five times in the inning to lead 6-1, but eventually lost the game 13-10. Photo by Joe Blenkle

Yolo 13, Fair Oaks 10 (League: 9-1, Overall: 21-3) - June 25 @ Bella Vista High School - Fair Oaks blew a 6-1 fifth inning lead to lose its first District 6 game of the season to Yolo by a score of 13-10 at Bella Vista High School.
    The Oaks took a 1-0 advantage in the second inning as first baseman Charlie Robertson hammered the ball deep over the right field fence to give Post 383 the early lead.
    Yolo tied the game up in the fourth, but Fair Oaks came back with five runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 6-1 lead for starting pitcher Taylor Sanders.
    Center fielder Jon Lang started things off with a ground ball to second that was bobbled, allowing Lang to reach base safely with no throw. Shortstop Cameron Barr followed with a walk and then a bunt by designated hitter Ben Schwefel went for a hit to load the bases. Catcher Bret Gibson got a hit to left to score Lang to make it 2-1 and then left fielder Cole Carter got a hit to right to drive in Barr to make it a 3-1 game. Roberton was the next batter and hit a ball to second that was bobbled. The second baseman managed to recover the ball and tag Carter as he went by, but robertson was safe at first and Schwefel scored for a 4-1 game. Right fielder Bryce Bandilla followed with a hit to right center to score Gibson and then second baseman Josh Britt walked to load the bases. This forced a Yolo pitching change and brought third baseman Andrew Gutierez to the plate with one out. Gutierez grounded out to short, but Robertson came in to score from third to make it a 6-1 Oaks lead.
    Everything looked good for the Oaks going into the top of the sixth, but then the bottom fell out as Yolo got two walks and eight hits in the inning -- including a grand slam home run -- to score eight runs and take a 9-6 lead. Schwefel replaced Sanders on the mound to get the final two outs of the inning with no additional runs scoring.
    The Oaks came right back to tie the game up in the bottom of the inning as Schwefel led off the inning with a bunt  that was fielded by the pitcher on the third base side of the mound. No play was made, however, and Schwefel was on with a bunt single. With one out, Carter got a hit to right and then a Robertson hit to right scored Schwefel to make it 9-7. Josh Glaser followed with a walk on four straight pitches to load the bases and then a hit by Britt just out of reach of Yolo's shortstop scored Carter to make it a 9-8 game and force another Yolo pitching change. A ground ball by Gutierez scored Robertson to tie the game at 9-9, but the Oaks couldn't bring home and additional runs.
    Yolo came back to score four more times in the top of the seventh to retake the lead at 13-9, but the Oaks narrowed the gap again in the bottom of the inning as Barr led off with a hit to left that got by the outfielder and landed him on second base. A ground out by Schwefel moved Barr to third and he scored on Gibson's hit to center to make it a 13-10 game. A double play ended the inning, however, leaving the Oaks down by three runs.
    Neither team was able to score again, although an eighth inning walk to Robertson and a ninth inning double by Lang and error on a ground ball by Barr gave the Oaks fans some hope for a comeback.
    Gutierez pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the Oaks, giving up two walks and a hit, but holding Post 77 scoreless to close out the game.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
YOLO	0	1	0	0	0	8	4	0	0	13	17	4
FAIR OAKS	0	0	0	1	5	3	1	0	0	10	13	3

Yolo: Pitching - Grunert, Duncan (5), Cook (5), Perez (6) and Turay. Top Hitters - Cook 4x6; Wright HR, 4 RBI; Keefer 2x5; Turay 2x3; Whitehead 2x4; Perez 2x5, 2 RBI; Vauter-Scoggins 2x5, 2B, 2 RBI.
Fair Oaks: Pitching - Sandersw, Schwefel (6), Gutierez (8) and Gibson. Top Hitters - Lang 2B; Schwefel 2x5; Gibson 2x5, 2 RBI; Carter 3x5; Robertson 2x4, HR, 3 RBI; Gutierez 2 RBI.