Although school was out for Spring Break, the diamond boys were hard at it this past week with tournament play. League play will resume this week for all three levels of play. Shown is a quick glance at how the teams fared over the vacation week.
VARSITY
Normally a freshman baseball tradition in Oakdale, the Mark Dickens Invitational was hosted by the varsity team this year. A six-team tournament began on Monday, April 6 and wrapped up on Wednesday, April 8 due to rain.
“Mark was a great, great man. In tribute to him, I thought it would be a good idea to honor him through varsity baseball and maybe get more people involved in it,” said head coach Nate Gregory about the tournament.
The boys came out flat on Monday, though, when they took on Gregori in the first game of a doubleheader. The boys took a tough 6-0 loss to the Jaguars. Oakdale took the field again later that afternoon to face the Vanden Vikings. The Mustangs fell to the Vikings 13-10 to drop Oakdale to 0-2 in the tournament. Vanden opened up with an early 3-0 lead after the first inning and built it up to an 11-0 lead during the top half of the fourth. The Mustangs, however, battled back in the bottom half of that inning, scoring seven runs to close the gap. The Vikings answered back with two more runs of their own, giving them a 13-7 advantage in the fifth. The Mustangs rally fell short after scoring three runs in the fifth, and they couldn’t muster anything in the final two innings. Oakdale (5-1 in league play) will play a home and home series with Weston Ranch (3-3) beginning at Weston Ranch on Wednesday, April 15 and home for a Friday afternoon game, April 17.
JUNIOR VARSITY
The junior varsity team hosted the Oakdale Invitational on Thursday, April 9 and the tourney came to a close on Saturday. Oakdale knocked off Buhach Colony 3-2 on Thursday. The Mustangs led 3-0 after four innings and survived a late rally by the Thunder. Saturday’s game against St. Mary’s proved to be a seesaw battle with St. Mary’s edging out Oakdale 6-4. Tied at 2-2 after two innings, the Rams outscored Oakdale 4-2 to end the game.
FRESHMEN
The youngest of the OHS baseball boys traveled to be a part of the Gregori Easter Tournament and nearly won the tournament. Oakdale found themselves in the championship game against Gregori and let one slip away. With a controversial call involving the home plate umpire, a Gregori runner was signaled out on his way to first base but when the runner reached first, he was called safe. The ruling was explained to coach Chris Jackson that the first baseman “dropped the ball” out of his glove on the exchange. The Jaguars would score three runs to win 5-4 over the Mustangs, who had to settle for second place tournament honors.
