When Oakville’s Matt Leise drove in the game-tying run in the top of the seventh inning Saturday to tie Thoman Boothe at 6-6, it appeared that Oakville would force the game into extra innings.

But like many other games for the Oakville American Legion ballclub, the lead quickly vanished when Thoman Boothe scored one run in the bottom of the seventh for a 7-6 victory in American Legion District 10 action.

“This has been our nemesis all season long,” Oakville head coach Matt Boyer said. “It’s as if it’s hard for us to play with a lead.”

Oakville held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but a breakdown from starting pitcher Todd Platz let Thoman Boothe take a 6-4 advantage.

Platz gave up six runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out three batters while walking five and plunking three batters. He’s 1-4 overall with an 8.12 ERA.

“For the first three innings, Todd was throwing a pretty good game,” Boyer said. “In the fourth inning, he just kind of lost it and couldn’t do anything right.”

Casey Savage, who gave up one run on three hits in three innings, relieved Platz in the bottom of the fourth. Savage recorded four strikeouts and two walks in his fifth loss of the season.

Leise recorded a two-hit performance that included two RBI.

“Matt had a key hit in the top of the seventh for us,” Boyer said. “He hit a double to drive in the game-tying run.”

Oakville’s Nick Santangelo also racked up two hits while driving in two runs.

“Nick’s been up and down lately,” Boyer said. “He had a tough game earlier in the week against Kirkwood, but he’s been hitting the ball hard these last few games.”

Oakville is back in action at 6 p.m. today — July 10 — against St. Charles at Blanchette Park in St. Charles.

“They were in the Memorial Day tournament and were a pretty good ballclub,” Boyer said. “This is going to be a wood-bat game, so it will be a bit different for us. We played at Perryville in a couple of wood-bat games over Father’s Day weekend and we won both games.”