It took over a decade to happen, but it happened again Saturday afternoon as the Oakdale Warrior softball team defeated French Settlement 3-2 in extra innings to win a playoff game.
The Warriors went into the final week of the season as the number 17 seed. They needed to win both games against Glenmora and Iowa to secure a home playoff game, but they maintained their same position in the polls after splitting the pair of games and then went up against the number 16 seed Lady Lions.
According to head coach Susan Covington, her team has come a long way since the floods to begin the school year. "Personally my own house flooded, and a couple of our players did too," she said before the game. "To experience that to be out of school for a whole entire month and then to come back. This is the only normal some of them see. We've come a long way since the beginning of the season, and they've finally been doing really well at the end of the season."
"We're very compatible," said head Oakdale coach Alycia McDaniel about the team in the opposite dugout. "I think that we have a better pitching staff because their pitching is average. The only thing that I can say that they have against us is their speed. They're little bitty tiny fast girls, and they take full advantage if we allow them to get on base."
Oakdale pitcher Breanna Hargrove neutralized that part of the Lions' game by only allowing five baserunners. She struck out 14 batters in her nine innings pitched including striking out the side in each of the first two innings. Her performance in the circle came a game after striking out 11 in a 2-0 win against Iowa last Wednesday. "Breanna has has been doing excellent," McDaniel said of her pitcher.
The game was scoreless until the Bottom of the Fourth as a lead off walk came across the plate for French Settlement. Hargrove then allowed a single after getting her ninth strike out. The runner also came around to score on a sacrifice fly to center field for the 2-0 lead. Oakdale tied the game in the next half inning as Hargrove ripped a two-RBI double with the bases loaded.
The score remained tied as each team was retired in order for the next two innings. All either team could manage was a single in the Bottom of the Seventh and in the Top of the Eighth. Hargrove got into a jam in the Bottom of the Eighth allowing a single and a walk, but her defense picked her up by recording the final two outs in the inning.
Oakdale then scored the winning run in the Top of the Ninth on what had been the team's Achilles' Heel going down the stretch. "Our biggest down fall right now is that we're getting runners on, but we're not being able to push them in," McDaniel said before the game. "So we've left quite a few people on base."
McKenzie Richmond led off the ninth with a bunt single. Ashton Gilley laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. Marley Gilley then bunted for a single, and the runners advanced to second and third. Cheyenne Fruge got the game winning RBI on the fourth consecutive bunt attempt in the inning.
"I'm super proud of these girls," said McDaniel. "We came a long way, and we didn't play the ball that we're used to playing. We had to adjust, and we had to play some small ball and come through. We were paying attention on the bases and just really had heart this game."
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