The Lady Wildcats took to the diamond with a mission this past week – to take third place in the Flint Metro League. And with four wins and only two losses, the team was able to tie for the spot with Fenton.
On May 16, the varsity softball players split against Fenton in a doubleheader. Oxford won the first game 6-0, but lost the second 0-2.
Winning pitcher in game one was Claire Vernarsky with only five hits and no earned runs in seven innings. The highlight point of the game was at the top of the sixth when Oxford made all six hits and scored six runs.
However, the Lady Cats couldn’t keep the momentum going. In game two the team had only four base runners all game.
‘We couldn’t get a hit,? said coach Sue Roeher, ‘but it feels good to beat Fenton since they’ve been league champs for the past seven years! The girls had a great overall performance.?
On May 20, Oxford once again split – this time against Holly.
In game one, the Lady Cats won 5-2 with Shannon Gerbe going three for four; Andrea Olesky two for three; and Elise Rendell, Jessica Anhel and Amber Cervantez each taking one hit a piece. The team showed great defense with only one error.
Vernarsky was the losing pitcher for game two where the Wildcats folded to Holly 5-7. The game was heated and went clear into the 10th inning.
‘The girls fought hard for 11 innings, but the errors killed us,? said Roeher.
At the top of the 10th, Holly led off with a base runner, who got on with an error. The next batter ground out and the next hit a fly out. The next two batters hit ground balls to the short stop, but errors allowed Holly to score two runs.
‘It was a rough way to lose our last league game,? said Roeher.
But the Lady Cats still pulled for a 6-6 league record and third place.
In non-league action, Oxford faced off against Rochester Adams on May 23. The Lady Cats won both games 4-3 and 4-1.
Game one saw Anhel going four for four with one run scored; Megan Bono went two for four and Olesky went one for four with two RBIs. At the top of the eighth, Anhel singled, Jill Mitchell came up and bunted her to second, and then Cervantez hit a single for the game winning RBI.
Bono was the winning pitcher in game two with three hits, one earned run and six strike outs over seven innings. Working at bat were Anhel and Mitchell who each went one for three; Danielle Bergum who went one for three with one RBI; and Gerbe who had two runs scored.
Oxford plays again tonight (Wednesday) for a single game against Romeo. Districts begin this Saturday with Oxford playing the winner of the Rochester/Orion match-up.