Softball is putting all the pieces together for a winning product on the field

Softball is putting all the pieces together for a winning product on the field
 The softball program at Oakdale is turning a corner and putting all the pieces together for a winning product on the field. This recipe has yielded another notch under the win column overall and in district play as the Warriors again defeated Pickering. This time around the score was 7-2 on the road.
 "I think they've improved greatly defensively, and then Brianna (Hargrave)'s improving week by week," said assistant coach Ben Jones. "The more she's pitching, the better she's getting. Kassie Tichy is our second baseman and our other pitcher. She made two leaping almost diving catches between second base and the outfield, and then our shortstop Marley Gilley made a bunch of plays. So our middle infield is getting better."
 "They're bunting the ball better and hitting the ball better," Jones added. "It seemed like everything kinda came together tonight... the hits, the bunts, the fielding, the pitching."
 With their team up 4-0 in the Top of the Fourth, Lauren Holmes and Skyla Chamblee reached base before third place hitter Hargrove launched a home run over the center field wall on a 3-2 count. 
 The win came on the heels of a 1-2 showing at the Sulphur Tournament. In the first game of the tournament, Oakdale was leading 4-0 over Westgate until six Warrior errors allowed the score to be tied. The international tie breaker then went into effect where each team began the next half inning with a runner on second base. Oakdale pushed the run across, and Hargrove struck out the last two Westgate batters to get the 5-4 win. "They were pumped up about that," said Jones.
 The next day was less heroic as Jones' team lost both games to Buckeye 4-1 and Sacred Heart of Ville Platte 4-0. According to the assistant coach, the Buckeye game turned as the umpires reversed a home run call off the bat of Mckenzie Richmond. "The ball hit the catcher's knee pad and rolled forward," Jones said. "The umpire said it was a foul ball. Well I was trying to argue that Darien Phillips shouldn't have to go back to first because it wasn't a foul ball that the ball hit the catcher's knee pad and that's what made it ricochet. So they let the pitcher pitch. Mack hits a homerun over left centerfield, and they said no home run because we had a timeout."
 Jones sees positive signs on the horizon as his team nears the final nine games of the regular season. "It's like the scores are starting to get lower and lower," he said. "We're not giving up as much. We're getting better at defense, and we're starting to hit the ball. I feel like we're just gradually getting better."