The hunters now have become the hunted.

That’s how members of the Oakville Senior High School softball team feel every time they step onto the diamond after last year’s 30-win season in which the Tigers fell in the championship game to Lafayette.

After Oakville dropped a 4-1 decision last week to Seckman in the semifinals of the Suburban South/West Tournament at the Affton Athletic Association, the first thing that some softball fans wonder is: “What happened to Oakville?”

“In a nutshell, we just didn’t hit,” Oakville head coach Rich Sturm said of the Sept. 3 game. “Our pitching was great and we didn’t have any errors, but since we were playing on a baseball field, what should have been a double turned into an inside-the-park home run.

“But you’ve also got to give their pitcher (Lucy Walter) credit,” the Oakville coach added.

After Seckman scored four runs in the top of the first inning, Marissa Simon got the Tigers on the board with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the inning.

“Marissa’s a steady player that’s off to a great start,” Sturm said. “She’s a tremendous player that really gets things going for us.”

Oakville starting pitcher Remy Edwards threw a complete game of seven innings and gave up four runs on five hits.

Edwards also walked one batter and struck out seven in her first loss of the season.

She currently boasts a 5-1 overall record with a 1.13 ERA.

“Remy’s got 46 strikeouts and only three walks,” Sturm said. “When you take away those four runs in the Seckman game, her ERA is like 0.20 or 0.30.”

The Tigers are back in action at 7:45 a.m. Saturday when they take on Washington in the Seckman Invitational.

All of Oakville’s games in the Seckman Invitational will be played at the Arnold Athletic Association.