Hoppin mad...
Post 383's Brion Casper slides safely into third base as Haggin-Grant's Chris Cheng jumps out of the way. Casper tagged from second on a fly ball to center field by Mark Haley. Casper got on base in the third inning with a hit, and then stole second to set up the play at third. Photo by Joe Blenkle
Fair Oaks tops Elk Grove 8-6
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the June 26, 1991 edition of The Orangevale News)
    Playing on an unfamiliar baseball field threw the Fair Oaks Post 383 American Legion baseball team out of synch for a few innings, but in the end the result was the same as Fair Oaks wrapped up another win, beating Elk Grove 8-6 on June 19 at Bella Vista High School.
    The game was played on Bella Vista's junior varsity diamond as a broken water pipe on the varsity diamond made the usual home field unplayable.
    Elk Grove jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as left fielder Mike Lewis led off with a triple to right center field. Shortstop Rich Luna followed with a hit to score Lewis, and then pitcher Eric Andre got a hit to left that moved Luna to second.
    Second baseman Robbie Buechler then hit a ground ball to shortstop. The throw went to second for the force, but was low and everyone was safe, loading the bases. Center fielder Doug Foster hit a fly ball to right which allowed Luna to tag and score. Andre also tagged advancing to third on the play. With two outs, right fielder Josh Varanini got a hit to center field to score Andre making it a 3-0 game.
    Fair Oaks came back to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning as second baseman Trace Coquillette drew a one out walk. Catcher Scott Howard followed with another walk and both runners scored on a double to right field by shortstop Brent Massoth to make it a 3-2 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
OVERALL: 13-2    LEAGUE: 13-2
    Center fielder Brion Casper then hit a ground ball to third. The throw to first was low and got away from first baseman John Clive. Massoth moved to third on the error and Casper advanced to second.
    First baseman Chris Borcich then grounded out, shortstop to first, with Massoth coming in to score and moving Casper to third. Right fielder Dale Natividad was the next batter, doubling to left field to score Casper and giving Fair Oaks a 4-3 lead.
    Post 383 extended its lead to 6-3 in the fourth inning as pitcher Chris Kurtz got a one out triple to center field. Kurtz scored on a Coquillette hit to left to make it 5-3, and Howard followed with a hit to third that took a bounce over the third baseman's shoulder. Coquillette tried for third on the play, but was thrown out with Howard advancing to second on the throw. Massoth then got a hit to right field that scored Howard, making it a 6-3 game.
    Elk Grove got two runs back in the top of the fifth as a walk and two errors made it a 6-5 game. Fair Oaks came back with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, however, as Natividad led things off with a walk.
    With left fielder Matt Borcich at the plate, Natividad was picked off first. Borcich eventually walked, and third baseman Alan Coursey was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base.
    Kurtz, the next batter, hit a grounder to third. The throw went to second to force Coursey, but Kurtz beat the throw to first to avoid the double play. Coquillette then got a hit to right to score Matt Borcich, with Kurtz moving to second on the play. Howard followed with a hit past shortstop that scored Kurtz, making it an 8-5 game.
    Elk Grove added a single run in the top of the seventh, but Fair Oaks got out of the inning to record an 8-6 win.
    Tim Fuhrman, Kurtz and Brett Rapozo combined to scatter eight Elk Grove hits, while Fair Oaks recorded 11 hits on the day.
    Saturday and Sunday, Post 383 continued to roll over its opponents, as Fair Oaks swept a doubleheader from Haggin-Grant on June 22, 15-1 and 10-9, and beat Haggin-Grant again the next day, 17-10.
    In Sunday's game, Fair Oaks jumped out to a 7-0 lead, sending 11 batters to the plate in the opening inning. Haggin-Grant came back with two runs in the top of the second inning, but Fair Oaks jumped all over the Haggin-Grant hurlers again in the bottom of the inning to open up a 12-2 lead.
    The inning was highlighted by a grand slam home run to right field by first baseman Chris Borcich which gave Fair Oaks its first four runs of the inning. Haggin-Grant scored once in the top of the seventh inning, but Fair Oaks answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to extend its lead to 15-3.
    Fair Oaks added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a Mark Haley home run and a Matt Borcich sacrifice to center field that scored Brett Rapozo from third base. Rapozo was on base after a hit and an error landed him on third.
    Haggin-Grant staged a rally in the top of the ninth after starting pitcher Tim Fuhrman was replaced by Mike McDowell. Haggin-Grant sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs before Haley came in to finish up the game with two outs.
    Haley allowed a walk to the first batter he faced, loading the bases, but got the next batter to hit a ground ball to shortstop for the final out of the game. Chris Borcich was the leading hitter, going 3-for-5, with two doubles.
    Fair Oaks hosts West Sacramento today at 5 p.m. at Bella Vista High School. Saturday, Post 383 will host Post 77 in a doubleheader, and Sunday, will visit Yolo for a single game at Clark Field.
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