Thursday night, March 12, the Oakdale High School varsity boys volleyball team hosted East Union. This was a Valley Oak League showdown that ended in three sets in favor of the visiting Lancers.
Set one ended with the Lancers winning 25-19. In set two Oakdale took a 3-2 early lead but East Union went on a 7-1 run to take a 9-4 lead, resulting in a time out by Oakdale.
With a dramatic sequence that went back-and-forth for nearly one minute, Iker Juarez ultimately hit the ball off a Lancer that fell to the gym floor for a point making it a 17-10 deficit for Oakdale. Later, down 21-11 Juarez once again got another point for Oakdale when he hit it between two Lancers. However, Oakdale would lose the second set 25-12.
Down 5-2 in the third, Oakdale made it 5-3 off an error by East Union. Armando Meza hit the ball hard off a Lancer to make it a 7-4 deficit. Meza got the home crowd on their collective feet with an ace to make it a 7-5 game. Once down 13-7 Oakdale took a time out. Juarez hit the ball off a defender for a point to make it a 15-8 game. Oakdale fell behind 22-12 and was forced to call a time out. Oakdale lost the set 25-12, getting swept by the Lancers.
“These boys are competitive, and I love that but they need to manifest that energy to the game and not get discouraged,” said head coach Kelly Nasrawi. “When things do not go their way, they get frustrated – and that is normal – however, I’d like them to work on applying that frustration and competitiveness and into a balance that will help them instead of affect them during the game.”
The coach also pointed out that the team is young and that they are making strides as the season goes on.
“We are short-handed, and the boys continue to compete regardless of the circumstance,” she said, adding that they will take each game just one at a time.
On Monday night, the boys were back on the home court and hosted Central Catholic in a Valley Oak League contest. There, they put a 3-1 win on the books to draw even, 1-1, in league play. Oakdale won in scores of 25-23, 25-11, 22-25, 25-13.
BASEBALL
It has been an up and down season for the Mustang varsity on the baseball diamond, with the boys winning one and losing two in league play to East Union, then starting their series with Mountain House off with a win.
They were at East Union on March 9 and lost 6-5, but came home for a March 11 contest and blasted the Lancers, 21-1. On the road Friday, March 13, it was a 16-13 loss.
In the home win over East Union, Oakdale put 12 runs on the board in the first inning and never looked back. Chance Ravalin was 3-for-3 with three RBI.
The Mustangs took an early lead in the Friday game at East Union, up 6-1 in the first, but the host Lancers chipped away and took the win. Griffin Costa went 3-for-5 for Oakdale with a pair of runs scored. Notching two RBI each were Gavin Wyatt, Brayden Avila, Ravalin and Landon Schutte.
Monday, March 16, it was a 10-0 shutout of the Mountain House Mustangs, with Avila going 4-for-4 with a double; Avila, Eric Velazquez and Wyatt each drove in two runs.
The JV boys continued their winning ways, as they swept three from East Union, 1-0, 10-0 and 14-2, then defeated Mountain House on March 16 by a 10-3 final.
SOFTBALL
Valley Oak League play started for the Oakdale varsity softball girls with a road game at Sierra on Thursday, March 12 and the Lady Mustangs came home winners, defeating the host Timberwolves 15-3.
Three runs in the first inning and a five-run uprising in the seventh sealed the win for Oakdale. Winning pitcher was Emily Thomason, who also helped her own cause by driving in three and scoring a run. Audrey Romiti was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.
The girls then got in some non-league games, falling 12-5 to Bullard on March 13 and playing two on Saturday, March 14, winning a 7-6 game over Hanford West and falling by a 7-6 decision to Monache.
BOYS TENNIS
After opening up Valley Oak League play on the road, taking a shutout loss to Mountain House, the Mustang boys have come back to put four straight tennis victories on the books. They started the streak with a 7-2 decision against East Union on March 4 and followed that up with a 9-0 victory over Manteca on March 5. This past week, the boys shut out Central Catholic, 9-0, on March 10 and battled to a hard-fought 5-4 decision over Sierra on Thursday, March 12.
Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
