Fair Oaks center fielder Ryan Dettman squares around to bunt in the fourth inning of the Oaks game against Lodi. Photo by Joe Blenkle

Fair Oaks 6, Lodi 5 (League: 0-0, Overall: 1-0) - May 23 @ William Land Park, Sacramento - Despite blowing a 5-2 lead in the final inning, Fair Oaks Post 383 came back to win its opening game of the 2009 American Legion baseball season 6-5 over Lodi in the District 6 Memorial Day Tournament at William Land Park.

     Lodi jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening inning as Oaks starter Taylor Sanders gave up a one out triple to center fielder Tyler Steib followed by an RBI single to Lodi third baseman Patrick Armstrong.

     The Oaks didn't take long to get back in the game, however, as Post 383 manufactured a run after second baseman Josh Britt walked and then Fair Oaks center fielder Ryan Dettman was hit by a pitch. Right fielder Jon Lang then hit a ball to third with the throw going to second to get Dettman, with Britt advancing to third. With Sanders at the plate, a wild pitch moved Lang to second. Sanders hit a ball to third and the throw came home to get Britt at the plate and give the Oaks two outs as Lang advanced to third. Post 383 then ran one of its favorite plays as Sanders drew the pickoff throw on first and stayed in the rundown between bases long enough for Lang to score and tie the game at 1-1.

    The Oaks took the lead in the second inning as third baseman  Ryan Hall was hit by a pitch to start things off. With one out and first baseman Chris Harms at the plate, a wild pitch advanced Hall to second. Harms eventually walked bringing shortstop Andrew Gutierrez to the plate. another wild pitch advanced the runners and Gutierrez sent a fly ball to left that allowed Hall to tag and score to make it 2-1. Catcher Mike Nantze followed with a double to score Harms and give the Oaks a 3-1 advantage.

    Post 383 padded its lead in the third with another run as Sanders got on with an infield single after two were out. He scored on a Hall single to right to give the Oaks a 4-1 lead. Lodi answered back in the top of the fourth off new Oaks pitcher Brian Kennedy as the first two batters he faced reached base. A bunt moved the base runners to second and third and then a ground ball scored Lodi's second run of the game.

    The Oaks got the run back in the bottom of the inning, however, as Gutierrez was hit by a pitch with one out. After the next batter struck out, Gutierrez stole second with Britt at the plate. Britt walked followed by a bunt by Dettman. The pitcher fielded the ball, but threw low to first and Gutierrez was able to score to give the Oaks a 5-2 lead.

    The game quieted down over the next few innings, but in the top of the seventh, Lodi tied the game up as they scored three times off a new Oaks hurler. Branden Lang had taken the mound replacing Kennedy and gave up three consecutive hits to score one run and bring the game to 5-3. Lang struck out the next batter and then got a ground ball which allowed another run to score to close the gap to 5-4. An error on a ball to third brought in the tying run as Lodi came back to knot the score at 5-5.

    The tie didn't last long, however, as Fair Oaks got a leadoff hit from Jon Lang in the bottom of the seventh. An errant pickoff attempt allowed Lang to take second and he advanced to third on a long fly ball to center by Sanders. With Branden Lang at the plate, it appeared Lodi was going to give an intentional walk, but the pitcher was called for a balk and Lang came in to score the winning run. 

Lodi: Pitching - Costa, Valenzuela (6) and Armstrong, Clark (6). Top Hitters - Steib 2x3, 3B.
Fair Oaks: Pitching - Sanders, Kennedy (4), B. Lang (7) and Nantze. Top Hitters - Sanders 2x4, 2B; Nantze 2B.