With three playoff games in the books for Oakdale High School softball, they hold a record of 2-1. They started their postseason in dominant fashion having defeated Bethel 18-0 and then escaped with a 3-2 home win over Christian Brothers. On Saturday, May 19 the top ranked Lady Mustangs squared off against the fifth ranked Vanden Vikings in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III tournament. Vanden shocked Oakdale with a 5-4 victory, sending the Lady Mustangs into a must win situation against third ranked Casa Roble. The game took place Tuesday evening, May 22 following The Leader’s press time.
After a non-competitive opening round against Bethel, Oakdale took on ninth ranked Christian Brothers. Shortstop Brittany Bye drove in all three runs for Oakdale starting with a two-run double that scored Adriana Aguilar and Grace Green in the third inning. With a 2-0 lead in the fifth, Bye drove in Aguilar with an RBI single.
“This is the playoffs and we had to come away with the win. Our team has been clutch all year from top to bottom,” said Bye on her three-RBI day.
Christian Brothers made it interesting in the seventh inning, scoring two runs and having the tying run at third base before the final out was recorded.
Oakdale’s offense was held in check on Saturday morning at Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton against the Vikings. The Lady Mustangs started the top of the first inning with rare back-to-back errors that led to a Vanden run. In the second inning Vanden added two runs to their lead to go up 3-0. The Lady Mustangs answered with a run in the second inning when Emily Smith brought in Alexa Aguilar from third base on a fielder’s choice with one out. Vanden extended their lead with a run in the fourth to go up 4-1, and tacked on their fifth and final run in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Oakdale senior third baseman Grace Green smash a three-run homer over the center field wall and over the scoreboard to bring Oakdale to within one run.
The rally fell short for Oakdale, however, and they are now facing elimination. The Lady Mustangs had opportunities as they left three runners in scoring position.
Pitching in the contest was Oakdale’s ace Lexi Webb. She has been a workhorse all season and pitched a complete game. She gave up nine hits and struck out five.
During the postseason Webb has a 2-1 record. The junior has pitched a total of 18 innings, given up 19 hits, walked five and struck out 15.
“We were not happy with the way we started the game,” said head coach Larry Loger of the Saturday morning contest. “Grace put us right back in it but we could not complete the comeback. We will be ready for Tuesday.”
