Justin Haley delivers a pitch to Manhart's Julian Richardson in the second inning of the Oaks opening round District 6 Championship game. Fair Oaks went on to win the contest 15-4. Photo by Joe Blenkle

Fair Oaks 15, Manhart 4 (League: 11-1, Overall: 24-8-1) - July 9 @ Clark Field, Woodland - Fair Oaks used a 12 run fourth inning to overcome a 3-1 deficit to Manhart en route to a 15-4 win in their opening game of the 2009 District 6 Championship at Clark Field in Woodland Thursday night.

    The Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning as catcher Shawn Wheeler got a one out walk to start things off. With two outs, first baseman Ryan Hall got a hit to center field that moved Wheeler to third and then he scored on left fielder Cody Osburn's hit to left to make it a 1-0 game.

    Manhart, which finished the regular league season with an 0-12 record, surprised the Oaks and starting pitcher Justin Haley in the top of the second as they scored three runs to take a 3-1 advantage. Four of the first five batters Haley faced got hits to account for the trio of runs, but Haley settled down after that and got the next two outs to end the inning.

    Zane Hemphill took the mound for the Oaks in the third and also had a bit of a rough go of it in his first inning of work. With one out, catcher Cody Miles got a hit to left field, but Osburn pegged a throw to shortstop Brian Kennedy as Miles got greedy and tried for second and he was tagged out. Hemphill then walked the next two batters, but got out of the inning as he struck out  Manhart first baseman Robert Searles to end the third.

    The Oaks managed only a lone base runner in the bottom of the third as right fielder Jon Lang was hit by a pitch with one out. The Oaks failed to get anything going after that, however. Hemphill struck out the first batter he faced in the top of the fourth, but then a base hit by  Manhart's Julian Richardson put a runner on. The Oaks ended the inning with a unique double play though as the next batter, center fielder Mike Laino, struck out and Richardson was thrown out trying to steal second.

    Then the Oaks exploded! In the bottom of the inning Post 383 sent 16 batters to the plate. Thirteen consecutive batters reached base after one was out. Twelve of them scored -- and the Oaks suddenly owned a 13-3 lead.

    The inning started out with a strikeout by third baseman Taylor Sanders. But then Manhart pitcher Rob Link lost whatever magic he had held over the Oaks to that point. Left fielder Chris Harms and Kennedy drew back-to-back walks. With center fielder Ryan Dettman at the plate, a pitch in the dirt allowed the runners to advance and then Dettman reached base with a head first slide into the bag after hitting a ground ball to second. Harms scored on the play to make it a 3-2 game, with Kennedy advancing to third. Second baseman Josh Britt followed with a hit to left to score Kennedy and then a Wheeler hit to left loaded the bases. Lang then doubled to center field to bring in all three runners as Dettman, Britt and Wheeler all came home to make it a 6-3 game in the Oaks favor. This prompted a Manhart pitching change as Nolan Ono took the mound. With Hall at the plate, a wild pitch sent Lang to third. Hall then greeted Ono with a hit to right to score Lang and make it 7-3. Osburn followed with a hit to left and Sanders doubled to center to score Hall to make it an 8-3 game. Harms walked to re-load the bases and a hit up the middle by Kennedy scored Osburn and Sanders to make it 10-3. Dettman drew a walk and Britt followed with a ground ball to third. The throw to first was low, however, and got away allowing Harms and Kennedy to both score. The final run of the inning came in on a passed ball with Wheeler at the plate. Dettman's run made it a 13-3 game. Ono then struck out both Wheeler and Lang to end the inning.

     Manhart came back to load the bases in the top of the fifth after two were out, but couldn't bring home any runs. The Oaks added a run in their half of the inning to make it a 14-3 game.

    Hall led off with a walk, followed by a hit down the left field line by pinch hitter Josh Paige. Sanders then brought Hall in with a hit to left. The ball got by the left fielder resulting in Paige trying for third, but he was thrown out for the first out of the inning. The next two batters grounded out to leave the Oaks lead at 14-3.

     In the top of the sixth, a pair of hits and an error resulted in Manhart's fourth run of the game, but the Oaks got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Dettman led off reaching base on an infield hit. Britt moved him to third with a hit to left and then with Mike Nantze at the plate, a wild pitch allowed him to score for the final 15-4 tally.

    Taylor Hickman came in to pitch the top of the seventh for the Oaks and shut Manhart down to preserve the Oaks 11 run lead. Due to the tournament's 10-Run Rule, that wrapped up the game for Post 383 as they advanced to Friday's winner's bracket game against Yolo.   

Manhart: Pitching - Link, Ono (4) and Miles. Top Hitters - Miles 3x4; Coyle 2x2; Kunz 2x3; Richardson 3x3.
Fair Oaks: Pitching - Haley, Hemphill (3), Hickman (7) and Wheeler, Nantze (5). Top Hitters - Britt 2x4; Lang 2B; Hall 2x3; Osburn 2x3; Sanders 2x4, 2B; Dettman 3x3.