MOUNTAIN VIEW – The frequency that Jessica Oakland slugged home runs for St. Francis is mindboggling.
The Minnesota-bound senior had 90 official at-bats this spring while leading the Mountain View powerhouse coached by her father, Mike, to Central Coast Section and NorCal championships. She finished with a state-leading 21 home runs.
That’s one homer every 4.3 at-bats.
Her junior year was almost the same – 85 official at-bats, state-best 19 home runs. That amounted to one homer per 4.5 ABs.
Oakland hit .578 this spring and had an on-base percentage of .681 in 119 plate appearances.
She had 67 RBIs, 27 walks and only eight strikeouts – and was stellar at shortstop.
Her team finished 31-2.
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Baseball: All-BANG | Player of the Year | Coach of the Year
Softball: All-BANG | Coach of the Year
For these achievements and many more, Oakland was a clear choice for Bay Area News Group softball player of the year, repeating the honor that she received last season.
How do you put it all into context?
“What we have here is unbelievable,” Oakland said after her final high school game, a 6-0 victory over Clovis to capture the inaugural NorCal Division I championship. “What we’ve done here, we’ve left a legacy – the seniors have – and they do have some big shoes to fill, but I know that they’re going to be just fine next year.”
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In three full years and one game in a 2020 season wiped out by the pandemic, Oakland hit .537 with 44 home runs and 159 RBIs.
Yes, the program has big shoes to fill.
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
