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Mustang Varsity Baseball Sweeps VOL Rival Manteca
baseball
Blake Whiting slides across home plate safely in a recent victory over Manteca. Whiting crossed home plate three times for Oakdale in the win. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

The Oakdale Mustangs baseball team is off to a hot start this season. Oakdale finished the preseason with a 7-1 record and opened league play with a pair of wins against Manteca.

On Tuesday, March 21 the boys packed their bags and traveled to Manteca to face the defending Valley Oak League champions. The two powerhouse programs battled to the ninth inning when senior catcher Bryce Kirk connected on a leadoff solo home run that cleared the right center field wall to ultimately give Oakdale a 1-0 road win.

“I just wanted to make contact with the ball. I have been struggling at the plate and I swung on the first pitch, which happened to be a fast ball and it carried over,” said the future University of Pacific catcher.

Prior to his go ahead home run, Kirk was 0-for-3 at the plate. The Mustangs totaled six hits on the day including a double by Vito Rodin. Rodin also started the game on the mound and pitched six innings and struck out six.

Thursday, March 23 the boys hosted Manteca in a much different game than the outing 48 hours prior. The Mustangs won the game 9-1 behind an 11-hit effort. Senior Blake Whiting went 3-for-3 at the plate and Tyler Hall brought in three RBI in the win. Michael Juarez, Nick Moore, Jordon Williams and Bryce Kirk all had one RBI each to help power Oakdale to the home win. Whiting earned the win on the mound, pitching six innings and only giving up two hits.

This week, the Mustangs have a home-and-home series with East Union. The two-game series began with Oakdale hosting the Lancers on Tuesday, March 28 following The Leader’s press time. Oakdale travels to East Union on Thursday, March 30 with a start time of 4 p.m.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

A rocky start to the Valley Oak League season for Coach Chris Henry and the boys, as Oakdale was swept by Manteca to start the season. On Tuesday, March 21 the boys fell to Manteca at home 1-0 in 10 innings. Two days later the boys traveled to Manteca and fell behind 5-2 after two innings and ultimately lost 7-2. In the loss Alex Daoud went 2-for-3 on the day for the Mustangs. Oakdale looks to regroup when they face the Lancers in a home and away series. The boys hosted East Union on Tuesday, March 28 and travel to East Union on Thursday, March 30.

 

FRESHMEN

No scores were reported to The Leader by press time, other than the 6-4 road win for the freshmen over Gregori on Saturday, March 25. Oakdale will take on Central Catholic on the road today, Wednesday, March 29 at 4 p.m. and have a home game scheduled for Friday, March 31, hosting East Union.