Make it six straight wins for the Oakdale High School varsity baseball team. The Mustangs completed a three-game series sweep over Kimball this past week. Following the series Oakdale is now in first place in the Valley Oak League with a 9-3 league record and they are 19-5 overall. For Kimball, the struggles continued as they remain winless in league play and have a 2-19 overall record.
Game one of the series took place on April 15 in Tracy. Oakdale watched a 3-0 advantage slip past them in the bottom of the sixth inning. However, the Mustangs did not stay down for long as they regrouped and tagged the Jaguars for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to rally for a 6-4 road win. The Mustangs had a total of five hits, led by Eric Velazquez who went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored three runs. Maddox Dias had a double for a run batted in. Christian Diebner and Landon Schutte also had a hit for Oakdale. Schutte started on the mound for Oakdale and faced 16 batters. He worked four innings on the hill and struck out 10 batters. He also did not surrender a run.
Two days later the Mustangs hosted Kimball. Unlike the game one thriller, this game got away from the Jaguars. Oakdale used a four run third inning to pull away from Kimball for an 11-1 home win. Carlo Antinetti, Tommy Chance, Diebner and Schutte all had doubles for Oakdale. Glen Weber and Diebner each had a pair of hits for Oakdale. Freshman Peyton Wallace pitched a complete game; he faced 19 batters and struck out 10. Wallace gave up three hits and one run.
With the series in hand, Oakdale completed the sweep on Friday afternoon with a 12-0 win. Weber drove in a trio of runners to help power Oakdale to victory. Tommy Chance brought in a pair. Dias, Diebner, Velazquez and Schutte also each knocked in a run. Trey Parsons pitched a complete game, striking out five and only surrendering two hits.
This week Oakdale will clash with Sierra in a three-game series. This is the final series of the regular season for Oakdale. Game one was held Monday, April 22 at home following The Leader press time. Game two is scheduled on April 24 at Sierra. The regular season finale and Senior Day will be Friday, April 26. First pitch for the game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sierra is currently in fourth place in the Valley Oak League. Their record is 13-9 overall with a 6-6 Valley Oak League record.
Varsity Softball
In their lone game of the week, the Oakdale High School varsity softball squad suffered a 6-2 home loss to Central Catholic. Oakdale never led in the game and trailed 6-0 in the sixth inning before scoring their two runs to avoid the shutout. The Mustangs also had four errors in the game and had four hits.
Central Catholic used the long ball to put away Oakdale. Home runs by freshman Samantha Nichols, sophomore Emry Couch and junior Taryn Calderon helped separate themselves from Oakdale. As for Oakdale, Madi Bohannon drove in both runs. The other three hits came off the bats of Marley Leighton, Reese Donaldson and Jaelyn Lee. In the circle for Oakdale was Raegen Everett. She gave up six runs, including all three home runs. She did strike out 10 batters in five-and-a-third innings of work. Lee came on and pitched the final inning-and-two-thirds, striking out one batter. She did not give up a hit or issue a walk.
Currently Oakdale is in third place in the Valley Oak League with a record of 4-1; they are 14-5 overall. Manteca is in first place with a 5-1 VOL mark, 13-3 overall while Central Catholic is in second place. This week, Oakdale traveled to Manteca to take on Sierra on April 23 following The Leader press time. On April 25 the Lady Mustangs will host East Union. Oakdale defeated Sierra 13-0 in their first meeting back in March and also defeated the Lancers 12-1 on March 28.
