It was a tough week for the Oakdale High School varsity softball team, as the Lady Mustangs dropped a pair of league matchups. On Wednesday, April 30 the team suffered a 3-0 road loss to East Union, and then fell short in another road game, this time to the Jaguars of Kimball on Friday, May 2 by a 5-1 verdict.

With a chance to take the division, the girls headed to Manteca to take on the Lancers. With a pair of outstanding pitchers in the circle, Oakdale’s senior, Melinda Koppinger faced East Union’s upstart freshman, Alexis Erich in a pitcher’s duel.

Erich gave up only three hits, two of which came off the bat of Oakdale’s Hanna Holland. East Union did their offensive damage in the third inning as RBIs from Jordan Vinson and Michelle Castro propelled them to their three-run inning. Oakdale also committed three errors in the game to contribute to the loss.

“East Union outplayed us in every aspect of the game. Alexis Erich pitched a very good game against us,” Coach Larry Loger commented.

Looking to shake their late season skid, the girls headed to Tracy to face Kimball, a team they had defeated 10-0 in their previous meeting. Oakdale took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but their bats were fairly quiet after that. Kimball scored two runs in the first to take a 2-1 lead. Kimball would tack on two more runs in the third, and added a security run in the fifth to put things out of reach for the Mustangs.

Maddison Hackbarth headlined Oakdale’s offense as she went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Oakdale continued to make mistakes on the defensive side, as they committed four errors.

“We have continued to make errors. Our offense seems to have left us at just the wrong time. We must refocus and win on Monday to have a shot at the title with East Union,” said Loger.

That set the stage for a must win game for Oakdale, as they faced rival Sonora High School for the final time in league play, Monday, May 5 for Senior Night. The host Lady Mustangs prevailed 34-0 in a game that went just five innings, based on the 10-run rule. That assured Oakdale at least a share of the VOL title. Look for a more thorough recap of Senior Night festivities in the May 14 edition.