LANCASTER, CA – Oaks Softball spent the weekend at Antelope Valley beginning on Saturday which settled in a split doubleheader. On Sunday, Menlo competed in a round-robin beginning with Antelope Valley in the morning which ended in a 5-1 victory. The Oaks then faced St. Katherine and completed the SoCal road trip with a 6-0 shutout win thanks to Briann Gonzalez in the circle.
Game 1: Menlo 5 -1 Antelope Valley
Menlo woke up feeling fresh this morning and ready for another day on the field. Shelby White started in the circle for Menlo and went 5.2 innings pitched and totaled 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, and only 3 hits. Vivian Valencia came in to close for 1.1 innings and also had a strikeout. With solid pitching, all the Oaks needed to do was get the ball in play which is exactly what they accomplished. Menl had 10 hits against the Pioneers this morning and were able to score 5 runs off of them.
The game remained scoreless until the 3rd inning when Sofia Quintero successfully laid the bunt down to get on base with 2 outs. Bella Cortez responded with a double up the middle to score Quintero and get the Oaks on the board. The next pair of runs came in the 4th when Aliya Lubrin was able to get a bunt down to give Grace Christian a base runner. Christian homered to left center field for her first time this season to bring in 2 runs and go up 3-0. Two more security runs came in the 6th and 7th innings. Lubrin grounded out with bases loaded and no outs so the Oaks went up 4-1 with an Edeker score. A rally ensued in the final inning and Emma Medina was the one to RBI single up the middle to score Quintero for a 5-1 lead. Menlo was able to close out the game with a classic 4-6-3 double play to get out of the game with a win!
Game 2: Menlo 6 - 0
The Oaks kept that same energy going into the afternoon, this time facing off the St. Katherine Firebirds. Brianna Gonzalez owned the circle for Menlo and was able to pull off the 7-inning shutout only allowing 2 hits and adding a strikeout.
The two teams were competitive all game and remained tied at 0-0 until the 3rd inning when Menlo built off of a rally. Emma Medina had Bella Cortez and Sofia Quintero at third and second when she successfully grounded the ball into a fielder's choice advancing both runners and scoring Quintero. Lara Edeker followed with another 2 RBI single to right field to score both Medina and Cortez and go up 3-0. In an effort to score, Grace Christian acted towards 2nd to attempt stealing which prompted the catcher to throw the ball out. This gave Lara Edeker the perfect opportunity to steal home plate and score the fourth run of the game and final run of the inning.
The final runs came in the bottom of the 7th inning when Alexandra Attard led the inning with a no-doubter out of the park for her first homer of the 2024 season. Medina followed with a ground out to 2nd which scored Grace Tuitleleapaga who pinch hit for Quintero. Smart base running and bat-to-ball abilities from the Oaks would prove too much for the Firebirds as they were able to close out the 6-0 shutout.
Up next….
Oaks Softball is in Rocklin, CA next weekend for another round-robin weekend hosted by Jessup. Friday, February 23 will feature a doubleheader beginning at 12:30pm against Oregon Tech followed by a game at 2:30pm against The College of Idaho.
