Oaks Defeat Riptide, Jump to Second Place in the Southern Division

By Micah Rodriguez

For the first time since Week One, the Oaks are the second seed in the Southern Division. After today's 7–4 win over the Orange County Riptide to open Week Seven of play, the Oaks are 17–9–1, with a .648 winning percentage. 

A four-run bottom of the fifth propelled the Oaks to a lead they did not relinquish. Matthew Witkow and Aiden Voyles both delivered big RBI knocks in the inning.

Will Kaczynski made his first start on the mound since June 21 and worked two scoreless frames. The right-hander did not allow a hit and mowed down two. 

The Oaks got on the board right away in the home half of the first. Brandan Contreras led off the game with a sharp line-drive single to right field. One batter later, Tyson Reis roped a single to right field. The ball got past the outfielder, allowing Contreras to score from first, with Reis hustling to third. Caden Stillwell lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Reis and giving the Oaks a 2–0 lead. 

The Riptide scored one in the top of the fourth and added three runs in the top of the fifth, grabbing a 4–2 lead. 

Caden Sramek entered in the third inning in relief of Kaczynski. The big right-hander worked a scoreless third before running into trouble in the fourth and fifth.

After the Riptide cleared the bases with a double in the left-center gap, Daniel Puebla entered for the Oaks and calmed the storm. 

Puebla induced a flyout to center on his first pitch to quell the threat.

As they have done so well in recent weeks, the Oaks bats responded immediately in the home half of the fifth. Zach Mora opened the inning reaching on an error, and he came around to score on another Riptide infield error. 

With two runners on and two outs, Witkow singled to second base, scoring Reis and knotting the score at four. After a walk to Danny Aguilera, Voyles ripped a single to center field, scoring Witkow and Reis, giving the Oaks a 6–4 lead. 

Puebla continued his dominance in the sixth and seventh innings. The right-hander did not allow a baserunner and punched out three. 

The Oaks tacked on in the bottom of the sixth. Mora once again got on base to lead off the inning, this time knocking a single to left. Mora advanced to second on a groundout from Contreras, and scored on another error in the infield from the Riptide, making it a 7–4 contest. 

Pierson Howe followed Puebla, coming on for the eighth inning. The right-hander worked around a one-out walk to throw up another zero on the board for the Oaks. 

Howe came back out for the ninth, showcasing electric stuff as he struck out the side on 12 pitches. 

Despite only collecting five hits as a team, the Oaks put up seven runs against the Riptide, who entered play today with the third-lowest team ERA in the CCL – it is worth noting the Riptide had six errors in the loss.

"Obviously, you want to hit more than we did [today]," Head Coach David Soliz said. "But at the same time, I thought we took what was given to us. We ran the bases really well, and that helped in our four-run inning."

Base running has been a major talking point for Soliz and his staff all summer. 

"Base running is one-hundred percent effort," Soliz continued. "The better you are base running, individually and as a team, you have opportunities to stay in the game when you have four or five hits, like we did today. If you don't emphasize base running, days like today, you're just stagnant. If you don't hit, you don't win. But you have an opportunity to win if you can still run the bases well."

After an off day tomorrow, the Oaks face the Arroyo Seco Saints at home at Pirate Park. First pitch is at 4 p.m.