Oroville 11, Fair Oaks 7 (League: 6-6, Overall: 18-16-1) - July 16 @ Clark Field, Woodland, Calif. - Fair Oaks quest for the Area 1 Championship was thwarted on Friday as Oroville Post 95 beat the Oaks 11-7 at Clark Field in Woodland. Oroville took a 2-0 lead in the second inning after two were out as second baseman Darren Swearinger got a hit up the middle. Catcher Cody Miller followed with a hit to right sending Swearinger to third. With designated hitter Guillemo Rodriguez at the plate, Miller stole second and then both runners scored on a hit by Rodriguez that went off second baseman David Dellaserra's glove. Oroville padded its lead with a big fourth inning as Post 95 scored six times, chasing starter Logan Appledorn in favor of Zane Hemphill, to take an 8-0 lead over the Oaks. Fair Oaks answered back with a big inning of its own in the top of the sixth as right fielder Ryan Lucchini led off with a hit to right field. With one out, left fielder Alec Strain got a hit to center and then designated hitter Shawn Wheeler walked to load the bases. First baseman Ryan Hall drove in Lucchini with a hit to left and then with two outs, catcher Mike Nantze got a hit to left to score Strain. The ball got away from Oroville's catcher on the throw home and Wheeler also scored to make it an 8-3 game. Third baseman Kevin Lyman followed with a hit to left to score Hall. With center fielder Aaron Saul-Guzman at the plate and runners at first and third, the Oaks pulled a double steal with Lyman taking second and Nantze coming home to score to make it an 8-5 game. Saul-Guzman then delivered a hit to left to score Lyman and the Oaks had cut the deficit to 8-6. This prompted an Oroville pitching change as Hunter Graves took over for starter Cody Kent. Graves got the final out of the inning to preserve Post 95's lead at two. Oroville came back with a big inning of its own as Post 95 scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 11-6 lead. The Oaks got one run back in the top of the seventh as Strain got a one out hit to short. The ball was popped up and Oroville's shortstop A.Z. Sutton tried for a diving catch, but missed allowing Strain to reach safely. Wheeler then got a hit to left. The ball was bobbled slightly allowing Wheeler to advance to second with Strain taking third. Hall then got a clean hit up the middle to score Strain and make it an 11-7 game, but that would be the last run the Oaks would score. Josh Paige took over on the mound to start the bottom of the seventh and held Oroville scoreless the rest of the way. Fair Oaks got something going in the top of the ninth as Strain led off with a hit up the middle. With one out, Hall got a hit to center and Dellaserra drew a walk to load the bases. Two outs followed, however, eliminating the Oaks from the tournament and ending their season with an 11-7 loss.
Fair Oaks:
Pitching - Appledorn, Hemphill (4), Paige (7) and Nantze. Top
Hitters - Strain3x5; Hall 3x5, 2 RBI; Lyman 2x4. |
