By PAUL GOTHAM
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Jeff Schlagenhauf has been in a leadership role with the Oakfield-Alabama athletic department for 35 years.
He has guided the O-A girls’ basketball program for each of those seasons, and for past six years he has led the Hornets’ softball program.
His teams have won league and sectional titles, but a state championship has eluded Schlagenhauf as it has Oakfield-Alabama in general.
That quest ended on Saturday.
Allison Harkness went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Savannah Durham hurled a 2-hitter as the Hornets (22-1) claimed the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class D title with a 4-1 victory over Windham-Ashland-Jewett (20-1) of Section 2 at Greenlight Networks Grandslam Park.
“We had three generations of Oakfield athletes here today, and as a guy who graduated from here, I can’t really put it into words,” he said. “I’m sure it’ll sink in at some point, but, I’m just happy for these kids.”
Harkness doubled and scored in the first inning when O-A pushed across a pair of runs to post all the offense needed on this day.
“They deserve everything,” Schlagenhauf said. “They work really hard at it. They’ve been focused all season, but really the last few weeks, and the last two days, has just been unbelievable. They’ve been loose when they needed to be loose, and they’ve dialed in when they needed to dial in.
“Our infield-outfield before the games, yesterday was great. It was better today. They were just ready to play. It’s cliché, but they weren’t gonna be denied, and we found ways to score runs.”
On Friday, the Hornets were making their first trip to the semifinals.
On Saturday, the squad with only one senior among them showed the stage wasn’t too big.
“You got kids that play a lot of ball, travel ball, and my assistant coach, he says, you know, for some of them, I think they think it’s just another game. Like, it’s just another Saturday, and we were playing games.”
Harkness added an inside-the-park home run in the fourth then the sophomore, who plays third base, drove in Emma Moeller with a single in the fifth for the final margin of victory.
Durham struck out 10 without issuing a walk. The sophomore right-hander allowed a leadoff double in the second and a one-out single in the third to W-A-C’s Piper Cohane. Cohane eventually scored the Warriors’ lone run.
Durham retired nine of the last 10 she faced and finished the game without allowing an earned run.
“All year long, we would say play the game in front of you. Don’t think about what happens if you win. Just play the game in front of you, and I said it today. I said, this is my last speech, and you’re going to hear the same exact thing. We’re playing seven innings, one out at a time, and they stayed true to that.”
Oakfield-Alabama defeated Cincinnatus of Section III, 9-0 in Friday’s semifinal.
Raine Denny was 3-3 with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored in the win. Tori Davis singled, doubled, reached base all four times she came to the plate and also crossed home twice.
Durham scattered five walks and three hits while fanning nine for the shutout.
The Hornets became the 15th state champion in Section V Softball history joining recent champions Bloomfield (Class C) a year ago along with Wellsville (B) in 2024 and Webster Schroeder (A) in 2022.
O-A is the fourth state title won at the Class D level by a Section V squad joining Notre Dame-Batavia (2012) and Elba in 1997 and 1999.
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