by TYLER HATHAWAY
GATES, N.Y– Raine Denny connected on two home runs as Oakfield-Alabama (No. 1 NYSSWA Class D) never trailed in a 6-1 win over Forestville (VI) in the NYS Class D Far West Regional at Gates Chili High School on Friday night.
“I’m happy for the kids,” said Oakfield-Alabama head coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. “They work really hard, they play a lot of ball in the summer, and the winter months. We get to see them rewarded at this level for all of their hard work.”
“This team is so special,” said Denny. “We’ve been playing with each other since we were like babies, and we play travel together, and this is just such a great team.”
Denny started the scoring in the first inning, putting a ball over the fence to score two runs and give the Hornets an early 2-0 lead.
“My mindset was just see ball hit ball,” said Denny.
“She’s been our vocal leader all year,” said Schlagenhauf of the junior. “Captain, three-year varsity kid. She had a great regular season, hit over 500. Last couple games, she put the bat on the ball, but hasn’t been awarded with some hits. She really worked hard in the cage for the last few days.”
She struck again in the fourth inning, putting a solo-shot over the left field fence to make it 3-0 Oakfield-Alabama.
“She got the first one, she squared up on that one nice, and then I told her the second time, ‘You’re not gonna hit a second one, so just make good contact,” said Schlagenhauf. “When she was rounding third, she kind of gave me a glance, like I you got a second one coach.”
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Denny also walked and came around to score in the sixth inning as the Hornets added three more runs to pad their lead.
“Just super happy for her,” Schlagenhauf explained. “When you have that vocal leader and that mature kid, that’s really kind of your spark plug, and when she gets one, it just energizes the entire bench, it was huge for us.
Also in the sixth, Allison Harkness and Emma Thompson each connected on an RBI single. Allison Williams had the RBI that plated Denny.
The win clinched the Hornets (20-1) a trip to the state semifinals after falling in their previous three appearances in the regionals as a program dating back to 2001.
“You don’t start the season and say you’re going to make the state final four,” said Schlagenhauf. “You want to compete for a sectional championship, which we did, and we wanted, and then it’s like, okay, we’re gonna play the next game in front of us. And our mindset of yours is we’re just gonna play the one in front of us. Whoever that is, whatever situation is. That’s really worked for us.”
On the rubber, Savannah Durham tossed the full game for the Hornets, scattering seven hits while striking out 11 batters. The lone run scored with two outs in the seventh inning. Entering Friday, Forestville was averaging over 10 runs per game.
“Most of the year, we’ve scored a lot of runs,” said Schlagenhauf. “We’re capable defensively, but we haven’t had to rely on our defense to get us out of some jams. Tonight we did. Allison Williams had a great double play at first, Raine (Denny) had a great diving stop that saved a run. And Savannah (Durham) got the big strikeouts when we needed them, based loaded one time and second and third a couple times. That’s why we’re still playing, you need to make those big plays at those opportune times and we did that tonight.”
“We all have a good mindset,” said Denny. “We know that even if we don’t make a play, someone else has our back, and we can just continue to make plays after plays.”
While the defense was a big part of Friday’s win, the Oakfield-Alabama offense has been on fire all postseason. The Hornets are averaging 9.8 runs per game since sectionals started.
“We hit one through 10,” said Schlagenhauf of why the offense has been so effective. “We really do, and all year long, it’s been a different group of kids in certain games. In the sectional final, it was our bottom half. Tori Davis had three hits in the eighth spot in that game. If you can go one through 10 and get runners on, then I think you’re super effective.”
Chloe Lamb was 2-for-3 with two doubles. Thompson added a double. Durham walked and scored.
“I’m just super happy for them,” the coach said of his team. “They rewarded their hard work. Our community is a small community. They’re super excited. Their (his players) moms played other sports for me. So to see that kind of generational connection is huge, I had a ton of former players reach out this week. We aresuper excited about what was going on. It’s what makes small town sports so special.”
Oakfield-Alabama will face Cincinnatus (III) in the NYS Class D semifinals on Friday, June 12, at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton. First pitch is set for 11:30 am.
“I think it’s (gonna take) a lot of what we’ve just been doing,” said Schlagenhauf of what it will take to keep their momentum. “Just make the play in front of you, and if it doesn’t go your way, shake it off. We talk about the four seconds, you get four seconds to get a bad play out of your head, make the next play. We’re not gonna do anything different with our mindset.”
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