Seventh-ranked Oakmont softball team grinds through a win over Casa Roble

After the Oakmont softball team beat Casa Roble 7-4 Wednesday, Vikings players stood in the infield dirt as one handled the scoreboard remote control, trying to get it to reset. Of course it didn’t work. It was just another kink to work out in a game that featured its share of quirks.

The home plate umpire punched out a Casa Roble batter in the first inning — after a strike on a 3-1 count. Oakmont led 5-0 and 7-2 before twice letting Casa Roble back into the game.

What undeniably went right was Madison Redinger’s swing. With Oakmont (4-1) already leading 1-0 in the second inning, the Vikings’ junior third baseman hammered a ball that nearly hit the first base coach on the junior varsity field a few hundred feet away. But it was foul. Two pitches later, Redinger again mauled it, hammering a three-run homer to right-center field for her first hit of the season.

“I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately,” Redinger said. “It was a good pitch, I sat on it, went with it and just got a good swing on it.”

It wasn’t luck, coach Marc Watson said.

Redinger worked hard to get out of her rut. When practice was rained out two weeks ago, she joined shortstop Grace Johnson in the batting cage and hit balls off a tee for two hours, Watson said.

“She’s just a beast. She grinds constantly,” Watson said. “She’s finally starting to get her swing bat, get her confidence back.”

Redinger also walked, stole a base and scored on a sacrifice groundout in the fourth inning.

Shaking the rust off was a theme for Casa Roble, which was playing its first game of the season. The Rams were set down in order in each of the first three innings as Oakmont pitcher Aubrey Smith hit her spots. She gave up back-to-back home runs in the fourth as Casa Roble made the score 5-2, but Watson wasn’t too worried.

“We knew there were a couple girls on that team that could beat us and do some damage,” he said. “We just got a little too careful. The two home runs were balls that just drifted a bit.”

Smith pitched five innings, allowed two runs on three hits (all consecutively in the fourth inning) and struck out six.

Team captain Kennedie Magorian took over on the mound in the sixth inning. She struggled a bit, allowing two runs to score, trimming Oakmont’s lead to 7-4.

Still. Watson wasn’t concerned.

“These girls have so much confidence right now, nothing really fazes them anymore,” he said. “They were just going about their business. … That’s just kind of the growth process. If this group would have played last year, I think they would be one of the top teams. I think they could easily play anybody out there.”

That tracks. Seventh-ranked Oakmont is loaded with future college players. Johnson is going to Portland State. Lily Peterson and Lanie Blomquist are off to Chico State. Hailey Roloff plans to play at Menlo College, Kailer Fulton is off to Southern Oregon, Kieli Humphers will play at Missouri Valley and Magorian is headed to Grand Canyon State.

And, Watson proudly says his team’s cumulative GPA is around 3.81.

Casa Roble coach Roxanne Marderos was all smiles even though her team watched a close game get away. It was the first game in more than a year and the Rams coach found plenty to be positive about.

“I thought we were gonna get blown out and it didn’t happen,” she said. “ In my mind, I thought we could get killed. They had a lot of rust this week in practice (but) I got a lot of good things to say (about this game).”

She cited the play of Jaclynn Young at first base. The senior had seven unassisted putouts in the first four innings, seamlessly making the transition from playing outfield on her club team. Young also homered and scored after walking in the sixth inning. Stephanie Tupper also hit a home run and hammered an RBI double for Casa Roble.

“I’m happy to be playing, happy that we’re going to be competitive,” Marderos said.

Casa Roble had a chance to make the game even more interesting in the seventh inning. With a runner on first base and two outs, leadoff batter Haylee Reginato hammered a ball into right field. Oakmont’s right fielder, who was staring into the sun, took an adventurous route to the ball before snagging it for the final out.

It was a rusty moment, but not unexpected.

“That’s what happens when you take a year off because of COVID,” Redinger said. “You’d expect everybody has a bit of rust on them.”

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