Post 383 second baseman Dave Scott (10) throws toward first base to complete a double play in the second inning of Fair Oaks' playoff game against Citrus Heights. Photo by Joe Blenkle
Post 383 starts strong then falls
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the July 29, 1992 edition of The Orangevale News)
    After a strong start in the District 6 American Legion playoff tournament, the Fair Oaks Post 383 team fell out of the title chase with losses to Citrus Heights and American Division champion Charles Eggen.
    Fair Oaks staged a tremendous comeback in its opening game of the tournament on July 22, beating Fort Sutter 19-10. Fair Oaks trailed 9-1 after only two innings of play, but then outscored Fort Sutter 18-1 the rest of the way for the win.
    Thursday, Post 383 got by Kennedy Valley 3-2, for its second straight win of the tournament.
    Friday's and Saturday's games were a different story, however, as Citrus Heights bombed Post 383 on Friday 21-2, and Charles Eggen beat Fair Oaks 16-6 on Saturday to eliminate Post 383 from the tournament.
American Legion - Post 383
Date Opponent Score
6-3 W. Sacramento W, 4-1
6-6 Citrus Heights W, 10-1
6-6 Citrus Heights W, 12-11
6-7 Citrus Heights W, 7-6
6-13 Charles Eggen L, 6-1
6-13 Charles Eggen W, 1-0
6-14 Charles Eggen L, 6-3
6-17 Post 61 W, 13-0
6-18 Fort Sutter L, 6-5
6-20 El Dorado L, 4-1
6-20 El Dorado W, 4-1
6-21 El Dorado L, 12-10
6-27 Haggin Grant W, 12-11
6-27 Haggin Grant W, 5-3
6-28 Haggin Grant L, 4-0
7-1 Auburn L, 7-2
7-4 Yolo L, 14-3
7-4 Yolo W, 4-1
7-8 Kennedy-Valley L, 5-4
7-11 Cordova W, 11-10
7-11 Cordova W, 5-3
7-12 Cordova L, 4-1
7-15 Southside W, 5-4
7-16 Yolo W, 18-10
7-18 Roseville L, 11-4
7-18 Roseville W, 5-4
7-19 Roseville W, 10-6
DISTRICT 6 PLAYOFFS
7-22 Fort Sutter W, 19-10
7-23 Kennedy-Valley W, 3-2
7-24 Citrus Heights L, 21-2
7-25 Charles Eggen L, 16-6
OVERALL: 18-13 / LEAGUE: 16-11
    In Fair Oaks' opener against Fort Sutter, Post 383 jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as shortstop Trace Coquillette led off with a bloop hit over the infield into short center field. Catcher Kent Guthrie then bunted Coquillette to second and a wild pitch with right fielder Leon Hamburg at the plate sent Coquillette to third. Hamburg then hit a ground ball to shortstop that scored Coquillette to make it a 1-0 game.
    Fair Oaks lead was short lived, however, as walks, hits and errors combined in the bottom of the first inning to give Fort Sutter a 3-1 lead off Post 383 starter Brett Rapozo. Fair Oaks went down in order in the top of the second and Fort Sutter picked up right where it had left off in the bottom of the inning, pounding Fair Oaks for another six runs to up the lead to 9-1.
    Clay Crossan came in to pitch to the final two batters in the bottom of the second, getting out of the inning when a Fort Sutter runner was thrown out at third after trying to take the base on a bad pickoff move to first.
    As terrible as things looked for Fair Oaks in the first two innings, they would only get worse - for Fort Sutter - the rest of the game, as Post 383 would allow only one more run in the game, while scoring 18 of their own.
    Fair Oaks picked up one run in the top of the third as Coquillette got on via a high throw to first after hitting a ground ball to shortstop. With Guthrie at the plate, Coquillette stole second and went to third as the throw from the catcher went into center field. Coquillette eventually scored on a balk by Fort Sutter pitcher Jacob Eckerd, making it a 9-2 game.
    Fair Oaks continued to pick away at Fort Sutter's lead, scoring three more runs in the fourth inning. Rapozo, who went to first after being replaced on the mound, led off the inning with a ground rule double to right field. Rapozo went to third on a hit by left fielder Greg Kenney, and Crossan loaded the bases as he drew a walk. Third baseman Alan Coursey then got a hit to center field to score Rapozo, making it a 9-3 game, and keeping the bases loaded. With center fielder Ryan Brennan at the plate, a wild pitch brought in Kenney from third, making it 9-4. Kenney then struck out, but Coquillette, the next batter, hit a fly ball to deep center, allowing Crossan to tag and come home to make it a 9-5 game.
    Fort Sutter loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, eventually scoring their 10th run of the game, but Fair Oaks continued to draw closer in the next half inning, and eventually took the lead at 11-10.
    With one out in the top of the fifth, second baseman Dave Scott was hit by a pitch. With Rapozo at the plate, a wild pitch sent Scott to second and then Rapozo hit a ground ball to third. Scott took third on the throw to first, and Rapozo reached first safely when the ball was dropped by Fort Sutter first baseman Peter Pryor.
    With Kenney at the plate, Scott scored on another wild pitch. Kenney then got on base as he hit the ball to short where it was booted, with Rapozo going to third on the play. With pinch hitter Jason Reynolds at the plate, Kenney stole second. The throw went into center field, allowing Rapozo to score making it a 10-7 game and sending Kenney to third. New Fort Sutter pitcher Ryan Fernald didn't have any better luck against Fair Oaks, as Reynolds stole second with Coursey at the plate, and then Coursey walked to load the bases. The next batter, Brennan, sent a ground ball to second for the force of Coursey, with Kenney scoring to make it 10-8. Hamburg then got a hit to left field that scored both Brennan and Coquillette making it an 11-10 Fair Oaks lead.
    Mike McDowell came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth, allowing only one hit before getting out of the inning.
    Fair Oaks added a run in the top of the sixth as Scott led off with a double down the left field line. Rapozo bunted Scott over to third and Scott scored scored on Kenney's hit to left making it a 12-10 game.
    Post 383 continued to add to its lead in the seventh inning as Coursey led off wtth a ground rule double to left center field. Brennan walked to put two runners on, but then Coquillette grounded to third, with the throw going to second for the force of Brennan. The relay to first for the double play pulled the first baseman off the bag, however, allowing Coquillette to reach safely and sending Coursey to third. With Guthrie at the plate, Coquillette made an uncontested steal of second. A wild pitch then sent Coursey home making it a 13-10 game and sending Coquillette to third. Guthrie sent a fly ball to right, with Coquillette tagging and scoring to make it a 14-10 game.
    Fair Oaks scored its final five runs in the eighth inning as Rapozo walked with one out to get things started. Kenney then doubled to left, sending Rapozo to third, and both runners scored as McDowell hit a screamer off the shortstop's glove, making it 16-10.
    Coursey got a hit to lef to send McDowell to second, but was forced out as the next batter, Brennan, hit a grounder to shortstop. With McDowell on third and Breenan at first, Coquillette hit a home run over the left field fence to make it a 19-10 game.
    Fort Sutter got two runners on in the bottom of the inning, but couldn't score, and Fair Oaks went out in order in the top of the ninth. Chris Kurtz came in to mop things up in the bottom of the ninth, recording a ground ball out and two strike outs to end the game.
    The win by Fair Oaks sent them into the winner's bracket of the tournament to face the first place National Division team Kennedy Valley on Thursday. That game was devoid of the fireworks found in Post 383's opener, as Fair Oaks squeaked by Kennedy Valley, 3-2. Tim Fuhrman had an excellent complete game performance for Fair Oaks, striking out 11 batters and scattering nine hits for the win.
    The first two wins of the tournament proved costly to Fair Oaks, however. Battered and bruised, Post 383 entered Friday's game against Citrus Heights with sore-armed pitchers and several players forced to play out of position or not at 100 percent because of various injuries.
    Citrus Heights feasted on five Post 383 pitchers, tallying a 21-2 victory with 20 total hits and five home runs. Fair Oaks scored both its runs in the fourth inning as walks came back to haunt Citrus Heights.
    With one out, Scott and Eric Brolin drew consecutive walks, and with two outs, Eric Henrikson's hit to left scored Scott and sent Brolin to second. Coursey hit a high bouncer to second that resulted in a bad throw to load the bases, and then Brennan's walk forced in Brolin from third to make it a 9-2 game.
    It was all Citrus Heights after that, however, as the team scored in each of the five remaining innings for an easy victory.
    Things didn't get any easier for Fair Oaks, as Post 383 was eliminated from the tournament on Saturday, losing to American Division champ Charles Eggen, 16-6.
    Fair Oaks was never in the game, trailing from the first inning, as Charles Eggen touched Fair Oaks pitchers for 19 hits, while Post 383 committed five errors.
    LEGION NOTES: Despite the disappointing losses in the playofls, Fair Oaks still had a good season, with fine play from all Post 383 athletes. Players not mentioned in the story above included: Scott Kinsey, Paul Dosher and Ryan Racette. With only four graduating seniors out of 17 high school players on the team this year, Post 383 should field another strong team in 1993.
    With Fair Oaks' season now at an end, all the numbers have been crunched and Post 383's statistical leaders have emerged.
    Catcher Kent Guthrie is the only player to have played in all 31 of Fair Oaks' games this season. Several others were close behind at 30, however, including Leon Hamburg, Greg Kenney and Dave Scott.
    Hamburg led the team in several categories, including runs scored (30), home runs (12), and RBIs (38). Trace Coquillette was the team leader in doubles (13) and triples (2). Kenney led the team in stolen bases, with eight in 12 tries, while Guthrie was a perfect 7-of-7. Guthrie also had eight sacrifices to lead the team and 26 walks, followed closely by Scott with 25. Post 383 batting leaders included Hamburg (.410), Coquillette (.389), and Kenney (.358). As a team, Fair Oaks hit .283.
    Fair Oaks pitchers combined for a team ERA of 3.99. Individually, Tim Fuhrman led the team with a 2.42 ERA and 61 strikeouts. Mike McDowell recorded seven wins for Fair Oaks without a loss, while Fuhrman compiled a 5-3 record. Fuhrman also recorded the most innings pitched with 52.
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