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Softball Seniors Propel Lady Mustangs To Win
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Seven OHS senior softball players were honored on Senior Day before the first pitch of the teams home game on May 3. The underclassmen delivered emotional speeches and presented the seniors with flowers as well. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

Freshman Lexi Webb was named the starting pitcher of the Oakdale varsity softball game, but it was the seniors who were front and center. Seniors Scarlett Brock, Kindra Hackbarth, Maddi Hackbarth, Cierra Duke, Emily Greenwood, Emery Sipe and Haley Fuller were all honored in an emotional pregame ceremony full of tears, laughs and decorations for Senior Day 2016.

Following the ceremony, it was down to business as Central Catholic came to town for the Lady Mustangs lone game of the week on Tuesday, May 3. The Lady Mustangs (18-1, 12-1) scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to power past the Raiders (5-10, 3-7) by a 6-0 final.

Oakdale scored their first run of the game on a Maddi Hackbarth one out RBI single to score her sister Kindra from second base to give Oakdale a 1-0 lead. Oakdale tacked on their second run on a one out wild pitch that scored a sliding head first Kindra Hackbarth from third, following her triple.

Webb, perfect through the first three innings, gave up a single down the third base line with one out in the top of the fourth inning. Webb and the Lady Mustangs regrouped with a double play. The freshman pitcher finished the afternoon striking out nine batters and allowing two hits in a complete game shutout. Webb has a total of 51 strikeouts on the season, and is currently fifth in the VOL in that category.

The bottom of the fourth inning saw two big blasts to open the game up for Oakdale. Webb led the inning off with a solo home run deep to center field to give Oakdale a 3-0 advantage. This was Webb’s fifth long ball of the season and she is currently tied for fourth place in the VOL in home runs. With two outs in the inning and runners on first and second, Kindra Hackbarth notched her third hit of the afternoon, belting a three run home run to right field, capping off the four run inning. Hackbarth leads the league in batting average (.710), slugging percentage (1.338), runs (33) on base percentage (.718) and stolen bases (18) this season.

Oakdale has one regular season game remaining on the schedule. Tuesday, May 10 the girls were slated to host first place East Union (20-0, 12-0). The battle for a share of the VOL title took place following The Leader’s press time. Their last meeting between the two teams saw East Union win 5-3 in their first encounter of the 2016 season on April 12 in Manteca. Oakdale has outscored East Union 227-152 on the season, both teams have allowed less than 30 runs each as East Union has only given up 20 total runs and Oakdale has allowed 27 total runs this season. Look for full results of the highly anticipated battle in the May 18 edition of The Leader. Playoffs are scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 17.