Oakdale High School varsity softball went into the spring break on a two-game skid. Returning to action refreshed, the Lady Mustangs pulled off two victories to end the 2025 regular season. Their offense cranked out a total of 21 runs in the two Valley Oak League wins as they battled to a 10-8 home win over Manteca and followed up with a dramatic 11-10 road win at East Union.
On Tuesday, April 29 the girls hosted Manteca in their final home game of the regular season. Prior to the first pitch, Oakdale honored five senior players for Senior Night. Jayci Volonte, Jaelyn Lee, Grace Constant, Alma Betencourt and Madi Bohannon were all honored by the program in front of their families, teammates and friends. When the festivities concluded, it was game time.
Oakdale trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but the home team scored four runs in the frame to take a 4-1 lead. The back-and-forth battle continued as the Buffaloes tied the game at 4 in the top of the third inning. However, Oakdale countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning and regained the advantage 6-4. Security runs were added on in the bottom of the fourth when the Mustangs posted three more runs to go up 9-4. Manteca scored four unanswered runs to bring it to 9-8. In the bottom of the sixth Oakdale scored one more run to win 10-8. Grace Constant had two runs batted in with a double. Freshman Katee Conde drove in three runs on two hits. Leila Mueller had two stolen bases. Jaelyn Lee pitched a complete game from the circle. She gave up seven hits and five walks in the win.
Thursday night Oakdale took on the Lancers. East Union jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. Oakdale drove in two runs in the top of the second to cut the deficit in half, but the Lancers pounced on Oakdale for three more runs in the bottom of the second to make it a 7-2 Lancers lead. Down 10-3 heading into the fourth inning, Oakdale’s bats woke up and outscored the Lancers 8-0 over the rest of the game. Constant hit an RBI triple, Lee drove in two runs and Bohannon brought in three to help lead the Mustangs to victory. Lee started the game for Oakdale and pitched two full innings giving up five earned runs, four walks and two hits. Emily Thompson came in and got the win, pitching five innings, striking out four batters.
Oakdale finished the regular season with a record of 14-10 overall, 7-5 in Valley Oak League. They finished third in league; taking first was Central Catholic, undefeated in VOL play with a 12-0 record.
JUNIOR VARSITY - The end of the regular season came with two losses for the JV softball girls. They lost to Manteca 12-1 and East Union blanked Oakdale 11-0.
BASEBALL
After compiling a 13-5 Valley Oak League record and 19-9 overall, the varsity baseball Oakdale Mustangs finished in second place in the VOL. That earned them the number two seed to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 playoffs, getting a home game to kick off the postseason.
Oakdale hosts number 15 seed Los Banos in first round action, set for a 4 p.m. start on Wednesday, May 7. The Tigers went 9-6 in their league, 10-13 overall. They do come in on a three-game winning streak while host Oakdale has put seven straight victories on the books.
Winner of the opening round contest moves to the quarterfinals to face off with the winner of the No. 7 seed East Union – No. 10 Vanden match up.
Top seed in the D4 bracket is Bradshaw Christian and Oakdale at number two, followed by Roseville, Sutter, Del Campo, Placer, East Union, Twelve Bridges, Casa Roble, Vanden, Sierra, Center, Nevada Union, Beyer, Los Banos and, rounding out the bracket at No. 16, Burbank.
The quarterfinal games are set for Friday, May 9 with the semifinal round then expanding to a best-of-three series.
BOYS GOLF
The 2025 regular season came to an end on Monday, April 28 for the Oakdale High School boys golf team. Micke Grove Park was the host site for the 2025 Valley Oak League Championship and it was Oakdale who came away with the title. The Mustangs, who went 4-0 in the regular season in Valley Oak League Tournaments, continued to show their dominance in the Championship Tournament. As a team Oakdale posted a score of 412 through 18 holes. Central Catholic placed second with a score of 449 and third place went to Mountain House at 463.
Estuardo Duque was named Most Valuable Player in the Valley Oak League and shot a 75. On top of the leaderboard was Nolan Harris with a 73. Harris received All-VOL Honors. Brady Boysen shot an 87, Owen Hauselmann shot 88, Robert Borba shot 89 and Fred Herschbach turned in a 96. Hauselmann also was selected to receive All-VOL Honors.
BOYS TENNIS
A first-round playoff exit ended the season for the Oakdale High School boys tennis team. On Thursday, May 1 Oakdale lost to River Valley of Yuba City 6-3. Oakdale was the four seed and River Valley the fifth seed.
In singles Camden Knight lost to Jorge Luna 3-6, 6-3 1-0 (10-1). Jaxton Marler defeated Emanuel Gomez Gonzalez 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8). Matthew Yakligian knocked off Wade Lee 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-8). Levi Hensley lost to Ryan Squires 6-1, 6-3. Austin Speiller came up short against Cruz Akay 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) 1-0 (10-4). Tristan McCarthy defeated Shivam Joshi 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4).
Doubles action saw Max Birchall and Mitchell Benning defeat Joaquin Cruz and Min Kye Lee 6-3, 3-6 1-0 (10-4). Anthony Llona and Brody Lev lost to Orrin Scarfe and David Vuniwai 2-6, 6-4 (13-11). Border Rath and Abraham Jeevan lost to Abelardo Zarate and Emmanuel Soto 7-5, 6-0.
On May 19 Knight, Marler, Yakligian and Hensley will participate at the Section Doubles Tournament.
Doubles action saw Max Birchall and Mitchell Benning defeat Joaquin Cruz and Min Kye Lee 6-3, 3-6 1-0 (10-4). Anthony Llona and Brody Lev lost to Orrin Scarfe and David Vuniwai 2-6, 6-4 (13-11). Border Rath and Abraham Jeevan lost to Abelardo Zarate and Emmanuel Soto 7-5, 6-0.
On May 19 Knight, Marler Yakligian and Hensley will participate at Section Doubles Tournament.
Leader Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
