Jul 26, 2008

One up, one down for Oaks

Palo Alto semi-pro team will face an elimination game today in tourney

By John Reid / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto Oaks southpaw Matt Campbell and Novato three-quarters righty Will Krout dueled for eight innings in Friday's nightcap of the Nor-Cal Stan Musial State Tournament at the Baylands Athletic Center. Neither team could put solid wood on the ball, so the game was destined to come down to which team was going to crack first.

It was the Oaks, whose throwing error allowed the winning run to score in the bottom of the eighth as the Knicks came away with a 2-1 victory. Host Palo Alto, which defeated the California Cobras 4-1 in an earlier game Friday, will fight to stay alive today vs. the Sacramento Scorch at 9:30 a.m. The Knicks battle Fontanetti's Sporting Goods of San Jose today at noon in a winners-bracket game.

It was a shame that either Campbell or Krout would get tagged for a loss in this one for both pitchers were outstanding. Campbell, using a 12-to-6 curveball, struck out nine while yielding three hits in going the distance. Krout, throwing 90 percent fastballs, fanned eight Oaks while giving up four hits in eight frames.

Novato (40-14) manufactured the winning run after Steve Warner singled to left with one out. Joe Slater, running for Warner, moved up a base on a sac bunt by Nick Nosti. With two outs, Campbell hustled over toward the third-base line to field Mark Pestorich's swinging bunt. Campbell seemed to hurry his throw, however, and the ball went over the head of first baseman Max Kautz. Slater strolled home with the game-winner.

"Both pitchers threw well," Novato manager Brett Kim said. "It was a classic pitchers duel. It's too bad the game ended that way, but we'll take it."

"That was a typical Palo Alto Oaks-Novato game," Oaks manager Steve Espinoza said. "We've played them four times over the years and three of the games have been tight like that. They just happened to get the break."

The Knicks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Nosti's two-out flare to center got down for a single, scoring Steve Cochran.
Krout got the benefit of two unorthodox double plays in the first four innings to pitch to the minimum number of batters during that span. The Oaks' Vinny Herrera was doubled off first base in the third inning after Tyler Finley broke his bat and popped up to Krout with Herrera going on the pitch. Nearly the same thing happened in the fourth inning. Evan Warner broke from first base on a hit-and-run and was doubled up on Chris Budelli's pop-up to first base, though the speedy Warner almost got back in safely.

The Oaks, not the big boppers of past years, used their speed in the fifth inning to plate their lone run. Sean Scott beat out a swinging bunt with a headfirst slide. Jeff Ramirez dropped a pretty bunt down the third-base line, then flew to first to beat it out. Ramirez was forced at second on Kautz' grounder. With Kautz on at first and Scott on at third, Krout faked to third and had Kautz well off the bag. Krout threw to first base, which prompted Scott to break from third. Scott was barely safe at the plate, somehow avoiding Steve Warner's tag.

Palo Alto also used its speed to put pressure on the Cobras. A one-out error by the Cobras in the first inning opened it up for the Oaks to score two unearned runs. Gabe Duran drilled a double into the left-center field gap, scoring Budelli. Ramirez singled in Duran.

The Oaks added an unearned run in the second after Finley singled with two outs. Finley was replaced by Will Klein on the bases. Klein sped to third base on a single to right by Evan Warner, then scored when the ball was mishandled by the right fielder for an error.

Palo Alto used more speed for its fourth run when Warner stole home in the fifth after Budelli got picked off of first base in a first-and-third situation.

Cobras first baseman Josh Dawson, who singled with two outs, received an unfortunate double whammy in the top of the second. Ian Cook's drive to right-center was initially bobbled. But Evan Warner threw to shortstop Duran as Dawson motored around third and headed for home. Duran, who was in short right field, threw a strike to Finley, the ball arriving well ahead of Dawson. However, Dawson attempted to bull over Finley, who hung on to the ball to make the tag, thus ending the inning. It also ended the tournament for Dawson, who was not only ejected from the game, but he suffered a broken collarbone in the collision.

"Gabe threw a seed, right on the money," Finley said. "That runner was pretty hefty. The ball got there early, so I was able to brace myself and dip my shoulder into him."

The Oaks had a stellar pitching effort from Matt Rossignol, who threw a complete-game four-hitter. Rossignol, who pitches for Bethany College in Scotts Valley, fanned nine hitters, while walking just one.

"I felt in the groove out there," Rossignol said. "I was able to control all five of my pitches."

- The Cobras rebounded to eliminate the Folsom Pioneers, winning 6-5 in eight innings. Aaron Mascoe's double scored Michael Marjama with the winning run. Folsom had lost to the Scorch 6-0 in the day's first game.

- Fontanetti's held a 6-2 lead over the Scorch going into the top of the seventh, but held on for a 6-5 win. Mike Menolo was credited with the victory, while Danny Dyer pitched to one batter to get the save. Dorontaye Hollins of the Scorch hit the day's lone homer, a line drive over the left-field fence in the second inning.



E-mail John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.



California Cobras 000 001 0 - 1 4 2

Palo Alto Oaks 210 010 X - 4 6 1

Young and Cook; Rossignol and Finley. WP-Rossignol. LP-Young. 2B - Finkela, Cook (CC); Duran (PAO). 2 hits - Warner (PAO).



Palo Alto Oaks 000 010 00 - 1 4 2

Novato Knicks 001 000 01 - 2 3 1

Campbell and Finley; Krout and Warner. WP-Krout. LP-Campbell. 2 hits - Nosti (NK).