Oakdale High School Junior Varsity baseball coach Chris Henry and his boys have been busy this summer. The team has played in three tournaments and a total of 15 games over the last 30 days. The boys of spring have turned into “The Boys of Summer” posting an impressive 14-1 record.

“I’m very proud of this group and look forward to the future season in the spring,” said Coach Henry, who will be entering his second season as junior varsity coach.

The Mustangs opened up their summer season with a 12-7 victory over Gregori. Oakdale followed up with a two game sweep over Turlock, outscoring them 18-1 in the series.

Oakdale traveled to Modesto on June 14 to be in the Downey Tournament. There, they defeated host Downey 12-1 to start the tournament off on the right foot. However, Oakdale lost 11-1 to eventual champions Saint Mary’s the following day. The Mustangs bounced back with a wild 12-11 win over Gregori to advance to the third and fourth place game against the Knights of Downey in a rematch of the first round. Much like the Mustangs did in the opening round, Oakdale handed the Knights a lopsided loss 11-1 to finish third in the tournament.

The Mustangs then went to Escalon on June 20 for a four-day tournament. In the four days Oakdale outscored their opponents 31-21 to take first place. During their quest to be champions, Oakdale defeated Ripon Christian (10-9), Gregori (6-5), Beyer (8-5) and host Escalon (7-2) in the finals to become tournament champions.

“They are great competitors and many of them have a keen understanding of the game at a young age,” Henry said of his young players.

Oakdale capped off their impressive June with a first place finish at the Modesto High Tournament. Tournament action began on June 27 and wrapped up on June 30 with an Oakdale 8-5 win over familiar summer foe, Gregori. The Mustangs swung big bats in the opening round where Oakdale dismissed Downey 33-7. Oakdale continued to dominate as they took an 8-1 win over Modesto Christian and then defeated Enochs 13-5 to advance to the finals.

“We still have our work cut out for us to bring the program back to the elite status but with hard work, determination and coachable student-athletes, we put ourselves in a great position,” Henry said.

Last season Oakdale went 15-8-2 with an 8-5 record in the Valley Oak League. During the season, sophomore Dane Gibson led the team in runs batted in with 23 and hits with 29.