EGELSTON TOWNSHIP – The Oakridge softball team is hoping to be a championship squad again this season, and the Eagles have a familiar face leading the way.

Veteran head coach Joe Coletta is back after a two-year retirement, and he started the second phase of his career in style on Tuesday when his Eagles defeated Mona Shores 14-2 in a five-inning game on their home field.

“That was fun,” Coletta said about his first game back, which was played in very chilly temperatures. “I was a little bit anxious, but I wasn’t worried because I knew our girls were going to compete, even though it was colder. That’s one thing that I can always count on.”

The Eagles had eight of their 10 batters collect at least one hit, all 10 players scored at least a run, and eight different batters knocked in a run.

It may be very early in the season, but Oakridge, a traditional softball power, looks like a team that could compete for a West Michigan Conference title and postseason honors.

“We thought we might get a lot of people involved offensively, but we still have a way to go because we have freshmen in the lineup,” Coletta said. “But I was really happy to see this, especially with the weather conditions. It’s not easy to grip that bat when the weather is this cold.”

Oakridge also had some strong pitching, especially from its starter Brooklyn Galdeen, who tossed three innings, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out six batters.

Galdeen got out of two jams during her three innings pitched. She escaped from a pair of bases loaded, one-out situations by striking out two straight batters to close the second inning, and striking out a batter and getting an inning-ending grounder in the third.

“It’s tough to pitch in these types of conditions,” Coletta said, giving credit to Galdeen. “Your hand is numb, and it’s hard to feel the ball. We made some decent plays behind her.”

The Eagles opened the scoring with an RBI single by Jasmine Pastor to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Oakridge sent 12 players to the plate during the second inning, scoring eight runs on six hits to increase its advantage to 9-0.

Galdeen had an RBI single, Ahria Doornbos drew a bases loaded walk, Pastor knocked in a run on a ground out, Andrea Romero-Serrano hit a three-run triple, Delaney Ruel doubled in a run, and Brenna Cabrera chipped in with an RBI single.

The Eagles added another two runs in the third to take an 11-0 lead with a solo homer from Pastor and a bases-loaded walk from Maddie Clark.

Oakridge closed out its scoring in the fourth inning with a two-run double from Abby Critchett and an RBI single from Romero-Serrano.

The Sailors finally crossed the plate twice during the fifth inning with a two-run double by Brooklyn Graham.

Kristen Hyland took the loss on the mound for Mona Shores.

“We have been working on our approach at the plate and the mental part of the game,” said Mona Shores Coach Sydney Recknagel. “We know that things didn’t go our way, but we have a long season ahead of us.”