East Union, Oakdale softball tangle over No. 1 large-school ranking

Timing is everything in the rivalry between the East Union and Oakdale high school softball teams.

The Modesto Bee’s top-ranked large-school programs have won nine of the last 11 Valley Oak League championships, and often the title has been decided by their matchup.

Oakdale (11-0, 5-0) owns a 14-9 advantage in the head-to-head series since 2004, and the margin of victory has been small.

“It’s all about the timing of when things happen. A timely hit or a timely mistake, advantage to the other team or advantage to you,” said Oakdale coach Larry Loger, whose team will face East Union (13-0, 5-0) on Tuesday evening at Northgate Park. “We have to relax and play softball the way we know we can, and we have to defend their small-ball game. Anybody that goes error-free, that will certainly help their cause. We know the pitching will be good. Both teams have stout lineups. It’s going to be pretty exciting stuff.”

Typically, it is.

East Union is the defending VOL and Sac-Joaquin Section Division III champion. By virtue of that throne and its perfect start, the Lancers debut at No. 1 in The Bee’s All-District large-school rankings, just ahead of No. 2 Oakdale.

The Mustangs have won six VOL titles since 2004 but haven’t won an outright title in four years. The two split their regular-season series in 2014 en route to sharing the title, but Oakdale won the rubber match 3-0 in the Division IV final.

“Sierra snuck in there a couple of times, but it’s been Oakdale and East Union for a very long time,” Loger said. “We want to win league, but it leads to implications for the playoffs, too. So this game is definitely very important. You’ve got two good teams, and you want to beat a good team when you have the opportunity.”

The opportunity is now – and this time, there’s no avoiding one another.

The bitter rivals found themselves at the heart of a controversial finish at the NorCal Classic in Tracy last month. Pitted against one another in the semifinal round of the Platinum bracket, East Union and Oakdale agreed to a forfeit to avoid playing before league.

Per their agreement, the Mustangs would advance to the final, where they’d play the winner between San Benito and Simi Valley. The Lancers would play the loser for third place.

Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Those games never materialized. San Benito and Simi Valley refused to play Oakdale and East Union, and the tournament director deemed their semifinal the championship.

Not that the rivalry needed another layer of intrigue or drama.

Last spring, Oakdale nearly forced a split of the VOL title but lost 7-6 on a controversial call at home in the ninth inning.

East Union’s Delaney Pamplin scored the winning run on a grounder to second base by Alexis Erich, who will miss the rest of this season because of an ACL injury. Loger contends the throw beat Pamplin to the plate, but the umpire ruled her safe.

The Mustangs simply couldn’t close out the Lancers. Oakdale led 3-0 in the third inning on Grace Green’s two-run homer and enjoyed one-run leads in the seventh and eighth innings.

“You try not to think about a game in the future when you’re playing another game, but (the girls) know how big this is,” Loger said. “They’re competitive and want to do well against good teams. They’re not happy with the way the game ended last year, and they’re looking forward to trying it again.”

Loger hasn’t named a starting pitcher and may feature all three – senior Scarlett Brock, freshman Lexi Webb and Green – to cool the red-hot Michelle Castro.

The senior leads East Union in eight major statistical categories: batting (.609), hits (28), runs (16), RBIs (14), doubles (six), triples (one), home runs (four), and stolen bases (10 for 10).

Castro had a home run disallowed in last season’s finale against Oakdale. A ball was thrown onto the field before the pitch, and the umpire ruled the play dead.

“We know how good she is,” Loger said. “She’s always played well against us. They have speed and power and girls that get on base. They put a lot of pressure on you.

“That’s what we have to do to them. We have to put runners on base and get the timely hit.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 12:23 PM with the headline "East Union, Oakdale softball tangle over No. 1 large-school ranking."