Mighty Oaks slam six homers to power doubleheader sweep that extends winning streak to eight games
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It’s a good thing the visiting team moved the bus before the doubleheader started.
Salem CC’s streaking softball team slammed six home runs – three in each game – to fuel a 10-1, 9-0 run-rule sweep of SUNY-Orange County Wednesday that extended the Mighty Oaks’ presumptive school-record winning streak to eight games.
Haylee Pickrell, Ella Hayes and Vaye Savage hit two homers each. Five of the six were two-run shots. The Oaks entered the game with three homers all season, and those all came in one game. They now have nine in 14 games. They hit 13 in 34 games in last year’s revival season.
“I think yesterday (at Lehigh Carbon) we had a rough one, our bats were kind of sluggish here and there and the weather played a factor; I think we just made up for yesterday,” Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. “New game, new opportunities and we made the adjustment this time around that we needed to.
“It’s still early in the season, so I think a lot of them are just trying to get into their groove and find their rhythm and I think today was the outbreak some of them needed. We definitely know we have power in our lineup and it was just kind of nice to see it come to light for the first time together as a whole.”
Three of the homers were hit to center. The Colts’ parked their team bus just beyond the centerfield fence when they arrived before moving it out of line of fire prior to the first pitch, avoiding the possibility of driving back to New York with some serious window damage.
Pickrell hit a pair of two-run homers in the first game, one in the first inning and the walk-off shot in the fifth. Hayes also hit a two-run shot in the fifth.
Savage, who led the Oaks in homers last season with four, homered in back-to-back innings in the nightcap and Hayes hit her second of the day in the third inning.
“When we get into the box we’re not thinking I’m gonna hit a home run,” Pickrell said. “It’s not pure luck, but it’s definitely harder to do than most swings.
“It was one right after the other, mine and then Ella’s, it was just a ripple effect, like a snowball effect. It got the dugout more hyped. We’ve all been struggling and trying to work with pitches and stuff and once we got those home runs and started that ripple effect, it definitely carried throughout the dugout.”
During their eight-game winning streak, the Oaks are hitting .507 as a team (107-211) with 26 extra-base hits and outscored their opponents 85-7.
Ever since the Oaks returned from their season-opening trip to the Carolinas their doubleheaders have followed a familiar script: Use a big first inning of the opener to grab early control and then let Morgan Mecham shut them down in the nightcap.
The Oaks (10-4) took control of the first game with a four-run first inning and led 5-0 before Orange got on the board with its only run of the day. In the nightcap, Mecham posted her fifth shutout in her last six starts, struck out six and walked none.
“The biggest difference from last year to this year we added depth to our lineup and roster, we added some key pieces to help out with consistency and defense and that’s just really kept our pitchers confident,” Rodriguez said. “One thing we lacked last year was making the easy play. This year we’re making all those plays easier, we’re turning double plays, we’re confident in what we’re doing and they feel that.
“That energy is there, the trust is there together, so that kind of settles them in a little bit more. Morgan is just locked in. Nothing fazes her. And she knows she has a defense behind her, so she’s going to keep doing what she’s doing, but also she’s going to trust what’s behind her to help her out.”
GAME 1
SALEM CC 10, SUNY-ORANGE 1
| SUNY-Orange (5-4) | 001 | 00- | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Salem CC (9-4) | 410 | 14- | 10 | 11 | 0 |
GAME 2
SALEM CC 9, SUNY-ORANGE 0
| SUNY-Orange (5-5) | 000 | 00- | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Salem CC (10-4) | 024 | 3x- | 9 | 13 | 0 |
Mo, mo Mo
Here is the ledger for Salem CC pitcher Morgan Mecham in her last six starts
| TEAM | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
Henry Ford  | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Prairie State | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Cecil College | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| RCSJ-Cumberland | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Lehigh Carbon | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| SUNY-Orange | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 6-GAME TOTAL (6-0, 0.21) | 33 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 42 |
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