Junior Joe Dembesky, who took the loss back on April 8th when Malibu scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Oaks Christian 9-8, got a measure of revenge on Tuesday as his two-run double in the bottom of the seventh capped a five-run inning that sent the Sharks down to a 7-6 defeat. The loss, only the second in league play for Malibu, reduced the Sharks' lead over second-place Santa Paula to one game with one left to play.
Malibu came out swinging against Lions starter Tim Johnston, picking up three hits in the top of the first. Brett Weinstock singled to center, but was erased at second on Phil Johnson's grounder to short. Daniel Williams replaced Johnson at first on another fielder's choice and moved to second on Jamie Van Soelen's single to left. Jason Puklus followed with a ground-rule double to left centerfield that scored Williams, but a groundout by Brooks Fitch left Van Soelen and Puklus stranded.
The Sharks added three more runs in the third. Van Soelen, who had three hits on the day, doubled to right center with one out. Puklus followed with a single. With runners on the corners, Fitch connected for his third homerun of the season to make the score 4-0.
Phil Johnson, making his seventh start, retired the first eight Oaks Christian batters he faced. Then, with two out in the third inning, Lions catcher Ryan Haddock reached on an error. After a walk to Joey Navarro moved Haddock to second, Matt Ramirez doubled to knock in the Lions' first run.
Malibu extended its lead to 6-1 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Weinstock reached in the fourth on a one-out single to left. Johnson reached on an error. After Williams struck out for the second out of the inning, Van Soelen singled to left to drive in Weinstock.
In the fifth, Fitch wound up up on third when his leadoff base hit bounced past Navarro in center. After Michael Gwyn was hit by a pitch, Geoff Roth drove in Fitch with a groundout to second.
Tim Johnston led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple to right center. With Chris Auten at the plate, Johnson balked, allowing Johnston to score. After Auten walked, Sharks Manager Paul Gallo brought in Geoff Roth to relieve Johnson. Roth struck out Joe Dembesky, induced Jimmy Dunn to ground into a fielder's choice, walked Jason Brooks, and retired the side on pinch-hitter Alex Blackmon's fielder's choice.
Looking for a quick exit with a win, the Sharks went down in order in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Haddock led off with a single. After Navarro walked and Roth went to 2-0 to Ramirez, Gallo brought in Jason Puklus to pitch. Ramirez walked to load the bases and bring Johnston to the plate as the tying run. A walk to Johnston scored Haddock. Auten followed with a single on a 3-2 pitch to knock in Navarro and Ramirez.
With still nobody out in the inning and the score 6-5, Dembesky came to the plate and, on a 2-1 pitch, drove the ball to the fence in right centerfield. Johnston scored easily from second with the tying run and Auten, running all the way from first, beat the relay to give Oaks the come-from-behind win.
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