Young Oakmont team waiting for reinforcements

Oakmont's varsity girls' softball team has only played seven games this season and has won two, but better things should be in store. At the end of next week coach Marc Watson will get more players eligible to play, which should give the team a big boost in all three phases of the game. "The main thing is we're young," Watson said. "Because of grade and transfer issues, I've been starting three freshmen so the early part of the season has been a challenge. We've played our first games with only 10 girls." Knowing he had some transfers, Watson has backloaded his schedule. He's only played seven games as of Thursday's 5-1 loss to Lincoln, while Marysville has played 15 games already. Oakmont still has 20 games to play. With no junior varsity team, Oakmont has four sophomores to go along with the three freshmen on the team. Three of the team's top-four hitters from a year ago have not played yet: seniors Kayla Freeze and Stella Verber and junior Sydney Creel. Junior Shelby Huston is the team's top returning hitter, as she hit .457 a season ago. When those players return and the team adds transfer Makayla Matson in the fold, they should be closer to the team that won 15 games last year. Matson will join sophomore McKenna Dutto as the team's top two pitchers. "McKenna is just now coming into her groove, as she works through the early part of the season," Watson said. "She pitched a strong game against Wheatland. We will get Makayla next week and they will be our two pitchers." The team's current batting average is .323, so they've hit the ball well. That average should improve once their newly eligible players get a few at bats under their belts. "I think our bats will be our strength," Watson said. "Once we get everybody, because the three girls we're getting next week are all big bats and we're already hitting fairly well now. In the past speed has been our strength, but this year it will be more gap-to-gap, moving runners and doing the little stuff." Among the team's top players so far this season, other than Dutto, have been senior Adilynn Williams and freshmen Sierralyn Williams and Sandra McNemar. "I think Sierralyn will be a horse for us," Watson said. "She's hitting over .400 already this season. Adilynn is a solid leader at the corner infield spots and Sandra is coming along well and doing some good things. Not having some of these other players is giving the younger girls an opportunity to get some reps." Watson hopes to be competitive in the Pioneer Valley League after placing second behind Wheatland a season ago. "I'd like to think we'll be in the top portion of the league," Watson said. "I think we'll be competitive. Beating Wheatland the other day was a big feather in our cap. Bear River is 3-0 right now, but we don't play them until later in the season. Lincoln is always solid and will be a good test for us." In Thursday's game against Lincoln, a poor first inning pretty much did the Vikings in, as they fell behind 4-0. Both teams managed one run after that in Lincoln's 5-1 win. Oakmont's run came in the bottom of the fifth inning when McNemar hit a one-out single and then scored on Dutto's double. McNemar had two of the team's five hits, while center fielder Lila Hale made two diving catches in the outfield to lead the defense.