Post 383's Brent Massoth slides home just as Citrus Heights pitcher Dave Greenly gets the ball in the third inning of Fair Oaks' game against Citrus Heights on Saturday. Massoth scored from third on a wild pitch. Catcher Brandon Garoutte recovered the ball, but his throw to Greenly was too late to get the sliding Massoth at the plate. Fair Oaks won the contest 10-7. Photo by Joe Blenkle
Fair Oaks stays in first with two wins
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the July 10, 1991 edition of The Orangevale News)
    Keeping its slim hold on first place, the Fair Oaks Post 383 American Legion baseball team took two of three games over the weekend from Citrus Heights.
    Fair Oaks hosted Citrus Heights at Bella Vista High School on Saturday, winning both ends of a doubleheader, 10-7 and 16-0. Sunday, Fair Oaks visited Citrus Heights for a game at San Juan High School, losing by a score of 9-6.
    In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, Fair Oaks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as second baseman Trace Coquillette led off with a hit to left. Coquillette stole second with one out, and then with two out, first baseman Mat Erwin walked to put two runners on.
    With center fielder Brion Casper at the p}ate, a passed ball allowed Coquillette to score and sent Erwin to second. Casper then walked and right fielder Chris Borcich got a hit to left field to score Erwin, making it a 2-0 game.
American Legion - Post 383
Date Opponent Score
6/1 Charles Eggen W, 4-0
6-1 Charles Eggen L, 8-4
6-2 Charles Eggen W, 7-6
6-4 @ Post 61 W, 12-11
6-8 Roseville W, 10-7
6-8 Roseville W, 4-3
6-9 Roseville W, 18-6
6-12 Auburn W, 8-4
6-15 El Dorado W, 8-3
6-15 El Dorado W, 6-3
6-16 El Dorado L, 11-8
6-19 Elk Grove W, 8-6
6-22 Haggin Grant W, 15-1
6-22 Haggin Grant W, 10-9
6-23 Haggin Grant W, 17-10
6-26 W. Sacramento W, 8-7
6-29 Yolo-Post 77 L, 7-2
6-29 Yolo-Post 77 L, 4-3
6-30 Yolo-Post 77 W, 5-0
7-3 Kennedy-Valley W, 8-6
7-6 Citrus Heights W, 10-7
7-6 Citrus Heights W, 16-0
7-7 Citrus Heights L, 9-6
OVERALL: 18-5    LEAGUE: 18-5
    Citrus Heights got one run back in the top of the second inning as third baseman Scott Goltz led off with a walk. Second baseman Jason Lee followed with a hit up the middle, sending Goltz to third. With one out, a ground ball by catcher Brandon Garoutte to Fair Oaks shortstop Brent Massoth allowed Goltz to score, making it 2-1. Citrus Heights took the lead in the top of the third, scoring three times for a 4-2 advantage. Pitcher Dave Greenly led off the inning with a double to right field. A walk to Tim Wolfe and hit by Dan Vetter loaded the bases.
    With one out, a walk to Goltz forced in Greenly with the tying run. Then with two outs, shortstop Gary Enyart got a hit to right field to score Wolfe and Vetter making it a 4-2 game.
    Fair Oaks came up with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the score at 4-4. Massoth led off the inning with a walk, and with one out, Casper also walked to put two runners on. With two outs, catcher Scott Howard hit a sharp grounder to shortstop. The ball was bobbled and Fair Oaks had the bases loaded.
    With Chris Kurtz at the plate, a wild pitch brought Massoth home with the first run of the inning. Kurtz then hit the ball to shortstop and again, the Citrus Heights fielder bobbled the ball allowing Casper to come home and score the tying run.
    Citrus Heights jumped back into the lead in the top of the fourth inning, scoring three times for a 7-4 lead. Gary Mackey led off the inning with a double to left field that was only inches from clearing the fence for a home run. Greenly followed with a walk, and then Wolfe sent a double to right field to score Mackey. With one out, Jarrod Westberg hit a grounder past shortstop to score Greenly, prompting Fair Oaks manager Don Barney to replace starting pitcher Brett Rapozo with Mike McDowell.
    The next batter, Goltz, flew out to left field with Wolfe tagging and scoring from third to make it a 7-4 game. McDowell retired the next batter to end the inning.
    Fair Oaks scored a single run in the sixth inning to close the score to 7-5. With two outs, Eric McDowell walked. The next batter, Massoth, sent a smash deep to left field that was missed by the Citrus Heights left fielder, allowing McDowell to "score and Massoth to take second. A walk followed to Erwin, prompting Citrus Heights to bring in a new pitcher, Nate Carlton. Carlton got Casper to ground out, ending the inning.
    In the seventh inning, Fair Oaks scored four times to take a 9-7 lead. Borcich and Howard led off the inning with consecutive walks, prompting another pitching change as Goltz took the mound for Citrus Heights. A wild pitch with Kurtz at the plate advanced both runners, and Borcich tagged and scored as Kurtz sent a fly ball to right field. The next batter, Mark Haley, drew a walk, and Coquillette got a hit to right field to load the bases for Fair Oaks.
    Eric McDowell bunted with the Citrus Heights pitcher fielding the ball and throwing home to Garoutte to get Howard at the plate. Garoutte then fired the ball to first in an attempt to get McDowell for the double play, but the ball got away, with Haley and Coquillette both scoring and McDowell making it all the way to third. Massoth followed with a hit to left to score McDowell, making it a 9-7 game.
    Fair Oaks added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Borcich got a hit to left field with one out. With Howard at the plate Borcich stole second and went to third as the throw went into center field. Howard walked and then Kurtz grounded to shortstop. The throw went to second to get Howard, but the relay to first was late, allowing Borcich to score and make it a 10-7 game.
    In Saturday's second contest, Paul Dosher pitched a two-hit shut out as Fair Oaks downed Citrus Heights 16-0.
    Fair Oaks had 14 hits in the game en route to its 18th win of the year. Coquillette and Massoth each went 3-for-3, while Borcich went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI. Massoth, Casper, Kurtz and catcher Kent Guthrie each contributed two RBI in the win.
    Sunday, Fair Oaks lost only its fifth gamee of the year, as Citrus Heights gained a measure of revenge with a 9-6 victory.
    Fair Oaks scored four runs in the top of the second, and a single run in the top of fourth to take a 5-0 lead over Citrus Heights.
    Citrus Heights came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and another five in the fifth to take a lead it would never give up at 7-5. In the sixth inning, Fair Oaks closed the gap to 7-6 as Howard led off with a hit to right field. Kurtz was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, and then Coquillette bunted to move both runners over. Howard scored as Massoth hit a grounder to second, with the throw going to first for the out.
    Citrus Heights scored a single run in the seventh inning to up its lead back to two at 8-6, and added its ninth and final run in bottom of the eight to record a 9-6 victory over Fair Oaks.
    Fair Oaks Post 383 currently holds a half game lead over Yolo Post 77 in the American Division entering today's game against Southside at William Land Park (5 p.m. starting time). Fair Oaks has an 18-5 record, with Yolo coming in at 17-5. Charles Eggen is in third at 15-8.
    July 13, Fair Oaks plays a doubleheader at Cordova beginning at 11 a.m. and then closes out its regular season July 14 against Cordova at Bella Vista High School. The top three teams in each division (American and National) then head to the playoffs at Clark Field in Woodland, July 17-21.
    First place teams will get a first-round bye, while the second and third place teams will enter a single-elimination cross-divisional playoff. The four remaining teams will then play a double-elimination tournament to decide the championship.
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