By Al Muskewitz
PENNSVILLE – The Salem Community College softball team lost to the three-time reigning region champions who hit six home runs in the first game and used two big innings in the nightcap to sweep the Mighty Oaks 15-6 and 15-3.
"We ran into a team that could hit and we didn't; that's the biggest takeaway," Mighty Oaks coach Angel Rodriguez said. "We did not have good approach today and we ran into a team that had a good approach. We've got to be better disciplined batting."
The Mighty Oaks (24-8) had 11 hits in the first game and seven in the second. Del Tech had 25 hits in the doubleheader.
Del Tech used the long ball to hand the Mighty Oaks their first loss at Watson Field this season after 14 straight wins. The Hawks hit six home runs in the opener, three in the seventh inning.
The Mighty Oaks got in on the act in the seventh inning when Vaye Savage hit a two-run shot to close the scoring.
The Mighty Oaks fell behind in the opener 6-0, but cut the deficit to 6-2 in the fourth inning on Faith Penn's two-run single. Savage's sacrifice fly got them within 6-3 in the fifth, but the Hawks restarted the power machine and pulled away.
Salem ace Morgan Mecham, pitching for the first time since her no-hitter on Saturday, kept Del Tech's bats quiet through the first three innings of the nightcap, but then the Hawks erupted for eight runs in the fourth and seven in the fifth.
The Mighty Oaks led the nightcap 1-0 on Courtney Hoggard's RBI single in the first inning. Haylee Pickrell homered in the fourth and Hoggard had an RBI single in the fifth. Hoggard had five hits in the doubleheader.
Despite the tough day, Hernandez did see some positives.
"Our defense played very well," he said. "We were definitely pleased with the way we were playing defense. We knew we can play that well on defense. We know we're a good hitting team. We just have to make better adjustments.
"We're going to be able to learn a lot from this. A lot of people stepped up in different ways in a couple at bats, so we're looking to carry that on and keep moving from there."
