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Spring Training Underway For Multiple Mustang Squads
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Oakdales Zack Miller hopes to live up to his preseason ranking of Oakdales No. 1 singles player on the tennis court. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

The groundhog may have seen his shadow earlier this month, but that won’t stop Oakdale High School from prepping for the spring. This past week, Oakdale’s spring sports squads began practicing in preparation for their upcoming seasons. Baseball, softball, track and field, boy’s tennis, swimming and boy’s golf will all soon be back in action on campus.

Scrimmages and preseason games begin this week – weather permitting – for many of the Mustang clubs.

Oakdale’s boy’s golf team tees off in a pair of scrimmages this week, playing a home-and-away series with Downey beginning today, Feb. 22. The boys open Valley Oak League play on Wednesday, March 1 as they host Lathrop at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Lee McGee returns as head coach for the team.

Thursday, Feb. 23 the softball girls return to action on the road in a scrimmage against St. Mary’s. Tuesday, Feb. 28 the girls host Ceres in their first preseason game. The girls open league play on Wednesday, March 22 at home against Lathrop. Last year the team made it to the semifinals in the playoffs. The team is coached by Larry Loger.

In their lone preseason game, the boy’s tennis club hosts Ceres today, Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m. After a full two weeks off the team opens league play against Weston Ranch on Wednesday, March 8 at home. All tennis matches are set for a start time of 3:30 p.m.; the team is coached by Grant Miller.

Oakdale’s varsity baseball returns to the diamond on Friday, Feb. 24 when the Mustangs host Merced in the first preseason game of the year. The first league game is set for March 21 at Manteca and Oakdale will host the Buffaloes on March 23 in the home opener. Nate Gregory is entering his fourth season as head coach of the Mustangs.

The swim team is set to make a splash this upcoming season and begin on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Downey High School for the Downey Invite. Oakdale will host their annual March Madness Invite on Saturday, March 11. Swimming begins at 9 a.m. The team is coached by Russ Van Cleave.

The girl’s track and field team has dominated the VOL for well over a decade and looks to continue in 2017 while the boys also are aiming to make some noise in league action. First action inside The Corral this season will be on Thursday, March 2 as Oakdale hosts a scrimmage against Escalon. The Mustangs will host Weston Ranch on Thursday, March 9 in the first VOL meet of the year.