Oakdale Middle School Lady Eagles Defeat Wartburg 5-4 in Tiebreaker
In a strange afternoon of middle school softball, the Oakdale Lady Eagles defeated the Wartburg Central Lady Bulldogs 5-4 Monday in a game that concluded with a fifth-inning tiebreaker. While the temperature was in the 60s, melting snow surrounded the field and water stood in most of the outfield. Yet, the surroundings did not stop these two teams from putting forth their best and competing in a way that shows a bright future for Morgan County high school softball.
Wartburg led off in the top of the first with a single by Kaylee Ledford, then loaded the bases when Emma Davidson was hit by a pitch and Braylen Melton walked. With the bases loaded and two outs, Redmon grounded into a fielder’s choice to retire the side with no score.
Paige Cook led off with a single for Oakdale, then scored on two errors by Wartburg. Emily Smith drew a walk and advanced when Ava Smith was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Emily Smith and Ava Smith both stole home on passed balls to give Oakdale a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Wartburg again loaded the bases in the top of the second and scored two runs on walks before Landry Smith retired the side on a strikeout. Oakdale could not respond and did not reach base in the bottom of the second. Wartburg pitcher Maddy Hurst ended the inning with a strikeout. Oakdale led 3-2.
Wartburg put three players on base in the top of the third on an error, a walk, and a player hit by a pitch, but one runner was out attempting to steal second, and two runners were stranded on base when Ledford hit into a fielder’s choice for the third out. Oakdale added an additional run in the bottom of the third when Cook stole home to take a 4-2 lead.
Wartburg added a run in the top of the fourth when Melton hit a line drive triple to left field, scoring Maddie Grubb. Melton then scored on a passed ball. After Katelyn Moore led off with a single for Oakdale, Melton struck out two Oakdale batters and a third grounded out with the score tied 4-4 after four innings.
Faced with exceeding the game’s time limit, the tiebreaker was implemented in which each team begins the next inning with a runner on second base. Wartburg was unable to advance their runner in the top of the fifth when the first three batters popped out, struck out, and grounded out. Oakdale placed Emma Snow on second, and she advanced to third on a wild pitch. Cook was out on a foul tip. Emily Smith then grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Snow and ending the game with Oakdale taking a 5-4 victory.
Landry Smith pitched all five innings for Oakdale, giving up two hits and four runs while walking seven batters and recording seven strikeouts.
Maddy Hurst pitched just over two innings for Wartburg and gave up two hits and four runs while walking one batter and striking out four batters. Braylen Melton came on in relief in the third inning and gave up one hit and one run while walking one batter and striking out five batters.
