Calabasas Baseball Team Can't Keep Pace With Thousand Oaks

Calabasas baseball coach Ed Edsall couldn't have scripted a better start to his team's game against Marmonte League rival Thousand Oaks.

Alex Rubanowitz led of the game with a walk, was sacrificed to second and reached third on a single by Mitch Margolis.

Jordan Bass completed the rally with a two-out, RBI single to give Calabasas a 1-0 lead.

But the lead was short-lived as Thousand Oaks scored five runs in the bottom of the first and went on to win, 13-4, at Thousand Oaks High School on Friday.

Thousand Oaks sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning. Trevor O'Shea hit a solo home run to tie the game, 1-1. Hayden Cronenbold drove in two runs with a double to give his team a 4-1 lead. Mark Manos capped the five-run first with a two-out, RBI single.

Thousand Oaks added another four runs in the second inning and before the Calabasas players had time to blink, it was 9-1 after two innings.

Calabasas starter Jacob Fields pitched only one inning. Edsall gave Fields the start in the hopes he could repeat his performance against Royal last week. Fields gave up only one run against the first-place team in the Marmonte League in a 1-0 loss.

But Fields ran into trouble right out of the gate against Thousand Oaks. O'Shea's homer came in the second at-bat for Thousand Oaks. Fields hit two batters and gave up five hits in the first inning. Four runs scored with two outs.

"Fields didn't have it today," said Calabasas first baseman Dalton Saberhagen. "They jumped all over us. It's tough. You gotta look passed it and get ready for the last game of the season."

Calabasas scratched back with a run in the fourth inning. Jacob Camhi led off the inning with a single and scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 9-2.

But Thousand Oaks responded by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Manos and Chris Pero each knocked in a run in the inning.

Manos finished with three RBIs and was 2-for-3 with a single and a double. Thousand Oaks starter Cody Thomson pitched only three innings and went 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.

"It tough to lose that way," Bass said. "It's disappointing. We played hard. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way."

Despite being down 11 runs entering the seventh inning, Calabasas mounted a little rally in the final frame, scoring two runs before Margolis was called out on strikes to end the game.

Anthony Dicosimo reached first base with a one-out single and came around to score on an error. Fields drove in Rubanowitz on a groundout to shortstop. Rubanowitz scored two runs for Calabasas and Bass was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

"We didn't give up," Bass said. "We battled the whole game. It's hard, but we kept battling. It's hard to take any positives out of it."

Thousand Oaks improved to 15-12, 8-5 in league. Calabasas drops to 13-14, 5-8 in league.

The final league game for Calabasas is Wednesday at home against Newbury Park.