Monday, March 26 the Oakdale Mustangs hosted East Union but came up short 7-4 in extra innings. However, the Mustangs bounced back with a sweep of Weston Ranch later in the week to win two out of three in recent Valley Oak League action.
“This team is finding their identity,” said head coach Chris Henry.
In the loss, Jake Elting had two runs batted in. On the mound Dylan Wright pitched six innings and gave up three runs. Oakdale trailed 4-0 at one point in the game.
Shaking off the loss and regrouping, Oakdale answered with a strong two game stand against Weston Ranch. On Tuesday, March 27 the team traveled to Stockton to take on the Cougars and blanked the host team 4-0. Jacob Solorio went 1-for-2 and delivered a two-run single to boost the Mustangs. Junior Josh Garcia started the game and never left the mound as he pitched seven strong innings. Garcia gave up four hits and struck out nine.
On Thursday, March 29 Oakdale hosted Weston Ranch and completed the two game sweep with a convincing 12-2 win. Dane Gibson had four RBI and a multi-hit game to help power the Mustangs.
“We are starting to compete at the level we want to be at. We have a lot we can improve on but we are starting to get to where we want to be,” said Gibson, a senior first baseman.
Third baseman Dylan Wright had a solid day at the plate as he went 3-for-4 and brought in three runs.
“Today’s game was huge. We wanted to come out here and continue to improve on some things and I think we did that,” said Wright.
On the mound Hayden Knittel pitched four-and-a-third innings and gave up seven hits and struck out four.
This week Oakdale will host the annual Mark Dickens Invitational in honor of the late coach.
“It’s an honor to be coaching in this tournament. Dickens meant so much to so many in our community,” said Henry.
The tournament began with first round games on Monday, April 2.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Oakdale improved to 4-0 in Valley Oak League action with three wins this past week, topping East Union and Weston Ranch. On Monday, March 26 the team defeated the Lancers 3-2. Gage Brink had a two-run single in the win. In the two game series against the Cougars, Oakdale outscored Weston Ranch 28-0 and won in 15-0, 13-0 contests. In the road win of the series Dom McDonald had four RBI and Carson Cripe added three. At home Dom Antinetti had a team high three RBI in the win.
FRESHMEN
The youngest of the Mustangs split their Valley Oak League games this past week when they defeated Kimball 11-0 at home but fell to the Jaguars by a 12-4 final in Tracy.
