June 14, 1995

Post 383's Jason Wilkerson slides into third base in the third inning of Saturday's game against El Dorado. Wilkerson was hit by a pitch to get on, stole second and then took third on a bunt by Brian Malchow back to the pitcher. Photo by John Blenkle

Post 383 beats Roseville, sweeps El Dorado
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the June 14, 1995 edition of The Orangevale News)

    The American Legion Post 383 baseball team continued to dominate its opponents with four more big wins last week.
    Post 383 posted a single win over Roseville last Thursday and then swept their three-game series from El Dorado over the weekend.
    After an uneventful first three innings last Thursday against Roseville, Post 383 drove Roseville's starting pitcher out of the game with a six run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. Shortstop Garrett Schoenfelder started things off with a walk. With first baseman Jason Wilkerson at the plate, Schoenfelder stole second. Wilkerson also walked to put two runners on and then left fielder Andy Tews hit a bouncer to third that forced Schoenfelder. Pitcher Brian Malchow followed that with a hit that drove in Fair Oaks Post 383's first run, as Wikerson crossed the plate for a 1-0 lead. Right fielder Ryan Case then blasted a home run over the left center field fence to score Tews, Malchow and himself for a 4-0. lead. The homer drove Roseville's pitcher from the game, but their new hurler had little success against Post 383's hot bats as catcher Shawn Lucchesi doubled to left center. Third baseman Devon Nicholson then hit a shot to third that was knocked down, but no throw was made and Nicholson was safe at first. Center fielder Stu Goodall then bunted, with the catcher fielding the ball and firing to third to force Lucchesi. With second baseman Reagan Reynolds at the plate, a wild pitch advanced Nicholson to third and Goodall to second. Reynolds then sent the ball to third where it was booted and both Nicholson and Goodall scored for a 6-0 lead.

American Legion - Post 383
Date	Opponent	Score
5-31	Fort Sutter	W, 15-6
6-3	Charles Eggen	L, 8-6
6-3	Charles Eggen	W, 5-4
6-4	Charles Eggen	W, 12-6
6-8	Roseville	W, 12-8
6-10	El Dorado	W, 9-6
6-10	El Dorado	W, 7-5
6-11	El Dorado	W, 13-2
OVERALL: 7-1 LEAGUE: 7-1

    Roseville came back in the top of the fifth for four runs, as Malchow got in trouble early. Two consecutive walks and a hit loaded the bases and another single brought home Roseville's first two runs. Jarred Hunt took the mound for Fair Oaks, with Malchow moving to first, Wilkerson to third and Nicholson to second. Hunt got a ground out on the first batter he faced, but one ran scored to make it 6-3. Two walks followed to load the bases and then a fly to right allowed the Roseville runner on third to tag and score to make it 6-4. A line drive to Schoenfelder at short ended the inning with Post 383 leading 6-4.
    Fair Oaks saw its third pitcher of the day in the bottom of the fifth, but he had little success against Post 383 either, as Wilkerson led off with a hit to center field. Tews popped out to second, but Malchow followed with a walk after Wilkerson stole second on a pitch in the dirt. With Case at the plate, a passed ball moved Wilkerson to third and Malchow to second. Case then sent a hit to center to score Wilkerson for a 7-4 lead. With Lucchesi at the plate, a wild pitch moved Malchow to third and Case to second. Lucchesi then got a hit through the infield into left to score Malchow and Case for a 9-4 lead. The throw came home trying to get Case at the plate, with Lucchesi moving to second on the play. Lucchesi then scored as Nicholson sent a ball to second that appeared to take a bad hop at the last second. Nicholson was also safe at first. With Goodall at the plate, a wild pitch sent Nicholson to second. Goodall flew out to center, but then another wild pitch sent Nicholson to third and pinch hitter B.J. Crone got a hit through the infield to left to score Nicholson for a 11-4 lead. Schoenfelder ended the inning with a strikeout.
    Goodall took the mound for Fair Oaks in the top of the sixth and after getting the leadoff batter ran into some difficulty. A pop to second dropped in after a near collision between Nicholson at second and right fielder Case. Goodall managed to get the next batter, but then four consecutive hits brought in four runs to close Roseville's deficit to 11-8.
    Fair Oaks added a final run in the sixth as Wilkerson led off with a home run to left to stretch Post 383's lead to 12-8. Jim Ott came in to pitch the top of the seventh, getting the first batter to ground out and then striking out the next two to end the game.
    Saturday, Post 383 swept a doubleheader from El Dorado, winning the first game 9-6 and then coming back to take the second by a score of 7-5.
    Fair Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the first game as right fielder Kevin McKeown started things off with a one out double to right field. The next two batters - Wilkerson and Tews were hit by pitches to load the bases and then Malchow walked to force in McKeown for the 1-0 lead. The next two batters popped out on the infield, however, to end the inning.
    Tews, Fair Oaks' pitcher, put El Dorado down in order over the next two innings and then Post 383 jumped on El Dorado for seven runs in the bottom of the third.
    Wilkerson was hit by a pitch to start things off and with Tews at the plate, stole second. Tews walked and then Malchow bunted. The pitcher fielded the ball and threw to third hoping for the force, but Wilkerson beat the throw and the bases were loaded. Schoenfelder struck out, but then three consecutive walks to Lucchesi, second baseman Dennis Hunt and Crone forced in three runs for a 4-0 lead. The big blow, however, was yet to come as Case stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam home run over the left field fence for an 8-0 Fair Oaks lead.
    Tews sent El Dorado down in order in the fourth and struck out the first two batters in the fifth before giving up El Dorado's first hit of the game - a questionably close call at first on a ball hit to deep short. He came back to strike out the next batter, however, to end the inning.
    El Dorado finally scored off Tews in the sixth after loading the bases. A walk forced in the first run and the next batter flew to right for a sacrifice to score the second. Two more hits brought in three more runs to close the score to 8-5. El Dorado added one more run in the seventh, but Fair Oaks answered back in the bottom of the inning to keep its lead at three.
    Schoenfelder started things off, reaching first on an error at shortstop. Lucchesi followed with a hit to right to send Schoenfelder to third. Then with one out, Crone hit a ball to third. The throw went to second for the force of Dennis Hunt, who had reached on a fielder's choice, but the double play try to first was late and Schoenfelder scored for a 9-6 lead.
    Goodall came in to pitch the last two innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced and preserving a 9-6 win for Fair Oaks.
    In the second game, Fair Oaks got going early on its way to another win. After a 1-1 tie in the first - Fair Oaks scored on a Case single, two stolen bases and McKeown's sacrifice - Post 383 put four more runs on the board in the second. Second baseman Matt Praz led off with a hit to right and then with one out, first baseman Trevor Rubly hit a slow roller to short that resulted in no throw for a hit. Praz moved to third on a ground out by Crone and then scored on Case's grounder to third. The throw to first was low and got away and Fair Oaks led 2-1. McKeown followed with a hit to left, scoring Crone, and then with Wilkerson at the plate a wild pitch scored Case for a 4-1 lead. Wilkerson's hit to right center scored McKeown and Fair Oaks owned a 5-1 lead.
    El Dorado came back with two runs in the third to close the score to 5-3, but Fair Oaks came back for a run in the fourth to stretch their lead back to three.
    With one out, Crone was hit by a pitch. Crone stole second with Case at the plate, and then Case hit a ball back to the pitcher. The throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag, however, and Case was safe. McKeown then got a hit to left to score Crone for the 6-3 lead.
    Ott, Fair Oaks' starting pitcher, was relieved in the sixth after giving up a walk and two hits. With two outs, Malchow came to the mound, striking out the final batter to end the inning and preserve Fair Oaks' 6-3 lead.
    Post 383 came back in the bottom of the sixth for its final run. Malchow led off with a double to left center and then moved all the way to third on a perfect bunt down the first base line by Rubly. With Crone at the plate, a wild pitch scored Malchow to make it a 7-3 game.
    Malchow ran into some problems in the top of the seventh, walking the leadoff batter and then balking the runner to second. With one out, a ground ball to Rubly at first got by him, allowing the runner to score for a 7-4 game. With two outs, a double scored another run, but Malchow got the next batter to ground out and Fair Oaks won the game 7-5.
    Post 383 closed out its week on Sunday, traveling to Placerville to take on El Dorado at El Dorado High School. Fair Oaks' bats stayed hot as Post 383 pounded El Dorado 13-2.
    Schoenfelder started the game on the mound for Fair Oaks, holding El Dorado scoreless until the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Fair Oaks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third after Reynolds led off the inning with a walk. With Lucchesi at the plate, Reynolds stole second. Lucchesi flew to center field for the first out of the inning. Schoenfelder was the next batter and he grounded to short, sending Reynolds to third. Case then singled to center to score Reynolds and McKeown homered to center to score Case and himself for a 3-0 lead.
    Two consecutive hits, a steal and a wild pitch gave El Dorado a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Fair Oaks came back in the top of the fifth to take a 7-1 lead.
    Lucchesi led off with a grounder to short. The low throw to first bounced away, saving the out. Schoenfelder sent Lucchesi to second on a ground ball back to the pitcher and then Case homered to score two more runs for a 5-1 lead. McKeown grounded out and then Wilkerson walked. His walk was followed by another home run - this time by Tews - to make it a 7-1 game.
    El Dorado strung together a couple of hits and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-2, but that would be the last run they would score.
    Fair Oaks made it a 12-2 game in the sixth as Reynolds led off with a walk. With Lucchesi at the plate, a wild pitch sent Reynolds to second and a balk put him on third. Lucchesi then singled to score the run for an 8-2 lead. Two outs followed and a wild pitch sent Lucchesi to second. McKeown then doubled to center to score Lucchesi and Wilkerson followed with a walk, driving El Dorado's pitcher out of the game. A wild pitch with Tews at the plate sent Wilkerson to second and McKeown to third. Tews then got a hit down the left field line to score both runners for an 11-2 lead. Malchow's hit to right scored Tews to make it a 12-2 game.
    Jarred Hunt came in to pitch the seventh for Fair Oaks. Two walks and an error loaded the bases for El Dorado, but Hunt managed to get out of the predicament with two strikeouts to close out the inning.
    Fair Oaks came back in the top of the eighth to score its final run as McKeown led off with a hit past third. A wild pitch with Wilkerson at the plate moved McKeown to second and then Wilkerson's hit to right scored McKeown to make it a 13-2 game.
    El Dorado went out in order in the eighth and Hunt faced only four barters in the ninth as Fair Oaks captured the win. The victory improved Fair Oaks' record to 7-1.
    Post 383 has a bye today and will face Cordova in a three-game weekend series beginning on Saturday. Saturday's doubleheader at Bella Vista High School will begin at 10:30 a.m., with a single game on Sunday at Cordova High beginning alt 11 a.m.
    NOTES: Several local players were named to the All-Metro baseball squad for 1995. First team members included Casa Roble's Devon Nicholson and Bella Vista's Jason Wilkerson and Andy Tews. Second team members were Jarred Hunt of Bella Vista and Kevin McKeown of Casa Roble.
    Fair Oaks' bats are a bit more prolific than last year's, as the team is already closing in on last year's home run mark only eight games into the season. Post 383 hit only 12 home runs last year led by two each from Lucchesi, Wikerson, Dennis Hunt and Steve Santich. This year Fair Oaks has 10 through eight games with Ryan Case leading the way with three.

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