Oaks Stretch Win Streak to Three Games, Defeat Waves in Back-and-Forth Battle

Oaks Stretch Win Streak to Three Games, Defeat Waves in Back-and-Forth Battle

By Micah Rodriguez

The Conejo Oaks defeated the San Diego Waves in a tight thriller 7–6 at Pirate Park. With the bases loaded, two outs, and a one-run lead in the ninth, Matthew Sanders recorded a game-saving strikeout to secure the victory. 

The Waves opened up the scoring in the opening frame. Two hits and some sloppy infield defense gave them a 2–0 lead after the first inning. 

Jaden Kolkowski got the nod on the mound for the Oaks. The right-hander battled through four innings, allowing seven hits and surrendering five runs while walking none and striking out one.

The Oaks got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, first baseman Danny Aguilera worked a five-pitch walk to score left fielder Dylan Jackson and cut the lead to one. The Waves then recorded two strikeouts and induced an infield popup to escape the inning without any further damage.

The Waves immediately responded in the top of the third. With one out, the Waves doubled, then tripled, and left the yard to give them a 5–1 lead. 

In the bottom half of the inning, center fielder Owen Meli led off with a four-pitch walk and catcher Tyson Reis singled to right field to put two runners on with nobody out. One batter later, third baseman Matthew Witkow ripped a line drive single to center field that got past the outfielder, allowing both runners to score and make it a 5–3 contest. 

The Oaks took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Aguilera blooped a two-RBI single to center field that knotted the game at five, and a bad throw from the Waves relay man scored another to give the Oaks a 6–5 lead. 

Hector Valdez came on in relief of Kowkolski in the fifth inning. The right-hander got the Oaks through two innings, allowing one run and punching out two. 

After the Waves got one back in the top of the sixth to tie the score at six, the Oaks got one right back in the bottom half.

Shortstop Zach Nagy led off the inning with a sharp single to left field, and lead-off man Brandon Contreras followed with a high chopper over the first baseman's head into right field. The pair moved up ninety feet on a balk, and Nagy scored on a sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of Meli to give the Oaks a 7–6 lead.

Arnold Wu came on after Valdez and was lights out. The right-hander worked a clean seventh and eighth, only giving up one hit and striking out three. The Oaks called on the rising junior at Pepperdine to finish the ninth in his first save opportunity of the season. 

With two outs and the bases loaded, Head Coach David Soliz called upon Sanders to get the final out. 

On a 3-2 count, the right-hander executed a chase slider down and away to get a swing and a miss to send the Oaks faithful home happy.

Soliz, who does not call pitches – it's always the catcher's game – agreed with Sanders' pitch selection with the count full. 

"In my head, I'm thinking, 'slider, slider, slider, throw it again,' and fortunately he got a swing and a miss," Soliz remarked.

Coming off a tough four-game losing skid, the Oaks have rebounded with three wins in a row.

"You can't ride the result roller coaster," Soliz remarked on the Oaks' win streak. "Just coming back out and doing the same thing over again, staying in your routine, and not getting too high or too low."

With the win, the Oaks move to 8-6 on the season. The Oaks are back in action on the road tomorrow against the Orange County Riptide. First pitch is at 7 p.m.