Fair Oaks' Dennis Hunt dives back into first base on a pickoff try in the sixth inning of Post 383's game against Haggin-Grant on Saturday. Hunt got on via a hit to left field. Fair Oaks lost the opening game of the doubleheader 12-9. Photo by John Blenkle
Hot-hitting Post 383 takes pair from HG
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the June 29, 1994 edition of The Orangevale News)
    With their team batting average climbing over the .300 mark, the Fair Oaks Post 383 American Legion baseball team concluded another successful weekend series Saturday and Sunday.
    Earlier in the week, Post 383 lost a close 6-5 decision to Southside, but rebounded over the weekend by taking two of three contests played against American Division opponent Haggin-Grant. Saturday, the two teams met at Bella Vista High School in a doubleheader, splitting the games. Haggin-Grant picked up a win in the first contest, but not after Fair Oaks made a valiant comeback attempt late in the game.
    Haggin-Grant made it a 1-0 game in the first inning, but Fair Oaks came back to tie the game with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Shortstop Dennis Hunt led off with a double to left center field and with catcher Shawn Lucchesi at the plate took second on a passed ball. Lucchesi walked and then right fielder Jason Wilkerson got a hit up the middle to score Hunt and tie the game.
FAIR OAKS 1994 RESULTS
Date Opponent Score
Memorial Day Tournament
5-28 Kennedy-Valley W, 6-5
5-29 Fort Sutter L, 11-5
5-29 Atwater L, 4-3
5-30 Winters W, 9-8
District 6 League Games
6-4 Citrus Heights L, 12-6
6-4 Citrus Heights W, 1-0
6-5 Citrus Heights W, 8-2
6-7 Yolo L, 3-1
6-11 Auburn W, 11-5
6-11 Auburn W, 10-4
6-12 Auburn W, 12-4
6-15 Post 61 L, 7-3
6-16 FlorinAuburn W, 6-5
6-18 Fort Sutter W, 18-7
6-18 Fort Sutter L, 7-3
6-19 Fort Sutter W, 9-2
6-22 Southside L, 6-5
6-25 Haggin Grant L, 12-9
6-25 Haggin Grant W, 10-6
6-26 Haggin Grant W, 14-7
LEAGUE: 9-6   OVERALL: 12-8
    Haggin-Grant added two more runs in the top of the third, with Fair Oaks answering back with a single in the bottom of the inning. Pitcher Jason Chaney and Hunt drew back-to-back walks to start the inning and then with Lucchesi at the plate, a wild pickoff throw to first got away and Chaney went to third. Lucchesi then sent a sacrifice fly to center that scored Chaney to make it a 3-2 game.
    Haggin-Grant scored another run in the fourth for a 4-2 lead and went up 5-2 in the fifth with yet another run scoring. Fair Oaks closed the gap to 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, as Lucchesi got a one out hit to center to start things off. Wilkerson followed with a grounder to third that was booted and then first baseman Trevor Surratt walked to load the bases. After a Regan Reynolds strikeout, Kevin McKeown got a hit through the right side of the infield to score both Lucchesi and Wilkerson to make it a 5-4 contest.
    Fair Oaks tied the game in the sixth as Eric Hobbs led off with a walk. Chaney bunted Hobbs to second and then Hunt's hit to left moved Hobbs to third. The hit drove Haggin-Grant's starting pitcher from the game in favor of Chad Allen, but Allen threw a fly ball pitch to Lucchesi, allowing Hobbs to tag and score to make it a 5-5 game.
    Haggin-Grant went back up by one in the seventh off two hits and then broke the game open in the eighth with a six run outburst to make it 12-5.
    Haggin-Grant sent in a new pitcher in the bottom of the inning, but Fair Oaks managed to score a two out run to make it a 12-6 game. With two outs, Lucchesi got on via error and then Wilkerson got a hit to left to put two runners on. With Surratt at the plate, a balk advanced both runners and then Surratt's hit to right scored Lucchesi to make it 12-6.
    Fair Oaks rallied for three more runs in the bottom of the ninth. McKeown led off with a ground ball to short, but the throw to first pulled the first baseman's foot off the bag and McKeown was declared safe. The next batter popped out, but Andy Tews followed with a hit to center and Mark Scott's hit scored McKeown to make it 12-7. With two outs, Lucchesi got a double to right center to score Tews and Scott and make it 12-9. The next batter struck out, however, ending the Fair Oaks rally.
    Fair Oaks came back to win the second game 10-6 with a four run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a tie game. Tews homered for Fair Oaks and had three RBI and Reynolds and Hobbs each had doubles.
    Sunday, the two teams closed out the series with a single game at Rio Linda High School. After a close contest in the early going, Fair Oaks broke the game open and won 14-7.
    Post 383 took charge in the first with two runs as Hunt led off with a solid hit up the middle. With Lucchesi at the plate, Hunt tried a steal of second but was thrown out. Lucchesi was then hit by a pitch and went to second on Wilkerson's hit to left. Tews then bounced the ball toward short, but Haggin-Grant's fielder couldn't find the handle and the bases were loaded. B.J. Green's hit to left scored both Hunt and Lucchesi to give Fair Oaks a 2-0 advantage.
    Haggin-Grant got one run back in the bottom of the inning on an error, but Fair Oaks came back to score three times in the top of the second for a 5-1 lead.
    Greg Efstratis led off with a hit to right center that bounced over the fence for a double. Hobbs was hit by a pitch and then with one out, Hunt hit a home run over the left field fence to clear the bases and make it a 5-1 game. Haggin-Grant came back to take a 6-5 lead in the third, but Post 383 came right back to tie in the top of the next inning with one run - Scott's one out homer to left.
    Pitching took over in the bottom of the inning as Tews sent Haggin-Grant down in order. In fact, both teams went down 1-2-3 until the top of the seventh when Fair Oaks broke the game open with six runs.
    With one out, Lucchesi got on via error. A passed ball with Wilkerson at the plate sent Lucchesi to second and then Wilkerson's hit up the middle scored him to make it 7-6. Tews popped the ball into center, with it dropping among three converging fielders for a hit. Green then drew a walk to load the bases and after Reynolds struck out, Efstratis walked to force in Wilkerson and drive Rio Linda's pitcher out of the game. The new hurler gave up a hit to Hobbs, scoring Tews and Green and then Scott doubled to right center to score Efstratis and make it 11-6. After facing only two batters, Haggin-Grant's pitcher was again pulled but the third pitcher of the inning gave up a hit to Hunt that scored Hobbs, making it a 12-6 Fair Oaks lead.
    Tews sent Haggin-Grant down in order in the bottom of the seventh and in the eighth, despite hits by Wilkerson and Tews, Fair Oaks also went down without scoring. Tews allowed only one walk in the bottom of the inning, striking out the first two batters he faced, and then in the top of the ninth, Fair Oaks came back for its final two runs against yet another Haggin-Grant pitcher.
    Efstratis led off with a grounder to third, but beat the throw to the bag and was safe. Hobbs followed with a hit and Scott loaded the bases with anoth­er hit to left field. Hunt then sent a bouncer into left field to score Efstratis and Lucchesi's grounder to third scored Hobbs to make it 14-6.
    After a leadoff strikeout in the bottom of the ninth, a home run gave Haggin-Grant its final run of the day to bring the score to 14-7. The win put Fair Oaks' record at 9-6 in the American Division.
    Wednesday, Post 383 travels to Cosumnes River College to face Kennedy-Valley in a 5 p.m. start. Saturday, Fair Oaks visits Cord­ova at Peterson Field for a 10:30 a.m. doubleheader and then Sun­day, returns home for a single game against Cordova at Bella Vista beginning at 11 a.m.
    PLAYOFF PICTURE: Tossing out El Dorado, Roseville and Auburn from the standings (all three are District 31 teams and not included in District 6 play­offs), Fair Oaks is in solid conten­tion for a playoff spot with its 9-6 record. Only Citrus Heights (11-5) and Charles Eggen (10-6) are ahead of Post 383. The top three teams from each division advance. On the National Division side, Post 61 (15-1) and Yolo (13-3) appear to be the favorites, with Southside currently in third with a 7-6 record. Fair Oaks and Citrus Heights must still face El Dorado in three-game series, but to Fair Oaks' advantage, Citrus Heights and Charles Eggen must still play each other and Citrus Heights must also face Yolo in a single game tonight in Woodland. Fair Oaks will face Charles Eggen in the final regular-season series, July 16-17.
    FORFEIT?: Ten Yolo players picked the wrong time to go to Hawaii to compete in a tourna­ment. Yolo was forced to forfeit its scheduled game against Roseville on Sunday. Yolo had wanted to reschedule the game, but the struggling Ros­eville team declined and took the win instead.
Return to Pre-1995 Coverage