Folsom Blue Jays advance to Dist. 54 Minor championship game

The Folsom American Minor Blue Jays are one win away from a District 54 TOC championship. Standing in their way are the Cosumnes Phillies, who the Blue Jays will play Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Feist Park in Granite Bay. The Blue Jays reached the championship game with a 12-9 win over the Lakeside Tincaps in a game that shouldn't have been that close. The Blue Jays led 12-2 and should have had the game won after four innings, but allowed the Tincaps to score three runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the game before scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before the Blue Jays finally recorded the final out. "They all pick each other up," Folsom American Manager James Fine said of his team. "The whole team can hit. It was a little rough late in the game with our pitching, but we went out and talked to him and told him to let his defense pick him up and then we were fine." Folsom American jumped on top by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning while hitting around in the order. Colin Holladay hit a two-run single and Hampton Mackey followed with a two-run double before Deacon Jones knocked in the final run, as the Blue Jays five, six and seven hitters got the job done. Nolan Fine started on the mound for the Blue Jays and gave up two runs in the first inning, but dealt zeros over the next two innings, as the Blue Jays worked up a 12-2 lead, scoring a whopping seven runs to their total in the top of the third. Lakeside got the first two outs after three batters, but the Blue Jays' next nine batters all reached base with a walk or a single, save for Harrison Martin's triple to start the rally. Martin drove in a run with his triple and Sawyer Brown and James DeGuzman each drove in a run, while Holladay knocked in two runs. "Nolan never pitched that much but he did great," Fine said. "James hasn't pitched much this year, but we know he can throw strikes and he was clutch." The Blue Jays, 13-6 on the season, have gotten in done with hitting and will need some more to beat the Phillies on Wednesday. "We've got some solid pitchers, but top to bottom this whole team hits," Fine said. "We're going to need to hit Wednesday and be smart on defense. We can't just give away outs."