Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
MUSKEGON — Veteran Oakridge softball coach Joe Coletta was eager for his team’s opportunity to shake off some spring-break rust in a pleasant climate Tuesday against visiting Ludington.
The Eagles knocked off some rust, all right. They pounded the ball all over the field in a West Michigan Conference Lakes Division-opening sweep of the Orioles, 27-0 and 25-0.
Sophomore Brenna Cabrera led Oakridge’s offensive charge with a monster effort in the first game. She crushed a grand slam, three-run home run and bases-clearing double in the three-inning contest.
Meanwhile, Eagles pitchers did not allow a hit in either of the games.
Here are some more details and notables from the doubleheader:
- Andrea Romero-Serrano, Oakridge’s lone senior, had a three-run homer plus a double and single with four total RBIs in Game 1. In Game 2, she had two singles and three RBIs.
- Oakridge’s Kaelinn Jozsa earned the pitching win in Game 1 with six strikeouts in three innings. In Game 2, she did the job at the plate with a homer, triple and single en route to six RBIs.
- Oakridge’s Madison Clark had three hits and two RBIs in Game 1, then two doubles and a single in Game 2.
- Oakridge’s Gracie Clark doubled and singled with two RBIs in Game 1.
- Oakridge’s Kylee Willea struck out four on the way to picking up the win in the three-inning second game.
- Oakridge’s Ahria Doornbos had four hits in Game 2, including two doubles and a triple, with three RBIs.
- Oakridge’s Rylee Vanderputte singled twice in Game 2.
- Oakridge, which was ranked No. 9 in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 2 poll, improves to 3-0 on the young season.
- Ludington, which was making its West Michigan Conference softball debut Tuesday, slips to 0-4 overall.
- Ludington coach Sierra Holmes: “Oakridge is just much further along than us right now. There were a few more plays we could have made, but for the most part we caught the catchable balls. We’re still learning to run our cutoff system well, but we did much better with that in the second game. The bottom line is, they just hit the ball well with runners on base. They hit multiple grand slams and multiple extra base hits. Hats off to them for that. Games like this are tough, so we just have to use them as learning experiences to help us moving forward.”