Three games, three victories and six more home runs hit for the Oakdale Lady Mustangs varsity softball squad. Coming off a difficult road loss to East Union, the girls regrouped and rattled off three straight victories in dominant fashion. Oakdale first took their frustration and aggression out on the Jaguars with a 16-1 road win in Kimball (3-15, 2-7). Senior Haley Fuller went 4-for-4 and was a one woman wrecking crew as the future Fresno State Bulldog hit two home runs and brought in five runs in the win. Fellow senior and future Bulldog, Maddi Hackbarth also went yard in the lopsided victory. Hackbarth went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Also filling the stat sheet was Cierra Duke who went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
“The frustration from the East Union game was quickly erased, (Maddi) Hackbarth and Fuller provided the power, and Cierra (Duke) also had a great game for us,” said a pleased Lady Mustangs head coach Larry Loger.
Oakdale followed up the big road win with a 20-0 dismissal at the expense of the Weston Ranch Cougars (3-14, 1-8) on Tuesday, April 19. In attendance were members of the OBSA youth softball girls, there to help cheer the Lady Mustangs on. The varsity girls did not disappoint as Fuller went deep in the third inning on a two out, three-run homer to center field, capping off the 20-0 victory.
“I was just looking for a good pitch and be patient,” said Fuller, who has hit five home runs in the last four games.
Senior Scarlett Brock pitched a complete game shutout striking out five in the win.
“This was our second straight error free game. The team has refocused and worked very hard the last two weeks,” Loger pointed out.
The Lady Mustangs closed out the week with a convincing 13-3 road win in Manteca against the Lady Buffaloes (13-7, 7-4). Freshman Brittany Bye went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the win for Oakdale. Fuller delivered another home run as she went 2-for-3 and brought in three runs. Kindra Hackbarth, also attending Fresno State this coming fall, displayed her power with a home run of her own, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and having two RBI. Sophomore Grace Green pitched all five innings giving up six hits in the team’s win.
“We were very intense and ready for this one. Grace got a lot of ground balls out of a good Manteca lineup,” Loger said.
Oakdale, with the string of wins, moved to second place in the Valley Oak League with a 9-1 record. Three games remain in the regular season for Oakdale, as the girls finish the season with two of the last three games at home. Oakdale travels to Sierra (10-3, 7-3) on Thursday, April 28 and then returns home for Senior Day on May 3 against Central Catholic (4-8, 2-5). The Lady Mustangs look for revenge against East Union (16-0, 8-0) in the season finale on Tuesday, May 10. All games are scheduled for 4 p.m.
