SARATOGA -- Playing three times at home in a four-day stretch, No. 16 West Valley baseball took advantage of home cooking, leapfrogging Monterey Peninsula and creating separation from Hartnell in Gavilan in the Coast-South table. Winners of four straight games, the Vikings (25-12, 11-7 Coast-South) now have two games remaining before postseason play.
"We went in with five games left and we knew what we needed to do," said head coach Bobby Hill. "For me, it was kind of piecing together how to hold the two spot, at least to lock in a playoff spot. A lot of our losses were self-inflicted, and we handed off some losses to teams, and we gave some games away. When you're fighting for a conference like that,, you got to win those games. But I set the schedule up to play tough teams early. I think I'm one of the few around that won't dodge teams. I go for them. I've been doing this for 11 years, I want to play the best early. I'd rather play the better teams early because I'll see where I stand as a team. Our goal is to make the playoffs every year, so sooner or later, you're going to run into these teams. And then when you get in the conference play, we are up against adversity when you play better teams early in tight games. And our team will have that kind of under their belt a little bit."
West Valley opened its week with a tilt against Monterey Peninsula (22-16, 9-9 Coast-South), a team that had taken two-of-three from the Vikings in the first conference series of the season. The Vikings took charge in a standalone game, taking down the Lobos 10-3. Freshman Apolo Lapiz continued his tear with seven shutout frames, striking out a season-high eight. Over his last three outings, all starts, Lapiz has combined for 20 innings with just five earned runs allowed (2.25 ERA), striking out 17 with just four walks.
"Apolo in these last two outings has kind of solidified the picture of what we thought he was going to be," said Hill. "That was the guy we saw pitching at Bellarmine all year, and we just needed him getting a little bit more healthy, because he was kind of banged up early. He's a gamer and you see the energy he brings out there. The defense is light behind him out there. They're on their toes. They're ready to go, and he gives us a little energy out there that we need. So, he's been outstanding."
MPC's starter, lefty JJ Sanchez, was strong early on, setting down the first five batters before Joey Damelio doubled with two outs in the bottom of the second. Bobby Hill, the Vikings' freshman shortstop, singled through the right side to score Damelio and put the Vikings ahead.
Leading by just one, the Vikings batted around in the bottom of the sixth to have their lead balloon to an insurmountable six. Ryan Bays led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a balk, and came home to score on a double from David Estrada. Damelio had a two-run single later in the inning, and Parker Kristall capped the frame with a two-run double. West Valley added four in its final two frames, and a couple late home runs from the Lobos were not enough to spark any sort of realistic comeback.
Thursday's contest, this against Hartnell, was the most thrilling of the three. The first time these two teams played this season, the Panthers (21-17, 9-9 Coast-South) had a pair of eight-run innings, but the Vikings posted a four-run, ninth inning comeback before the Panthers walked it off on a passed ball in a 19-18, extra inning thriller. This game would be more of the same.
West Valley got on the board first, as Kristall took a walk and Estrada doubled through the right side of the infield to put the Vikings ahead, 1-0. Viking starter Aaron Baum gave up an RBI single to freshman Logan Akaka in the second, but in the bottom half, Estrada hit his second double in as many innings, this of the two-run variety, to give the Vikings some cushion.
The Panthers stormed back in the top of the third, scoring four times to take a one-run advtange. With two down in the frame, sophomore Julian Ito came in out of the bullpen and got the final out of the inning to keep the Panthers at bay.
In the bottom half, the Vikings responded by loading the bases on two walks and a hit batter, and three runs came home on an ensuing hit batter and a pair of sacrifice flies, as the Vikings took a 7-5 lead.
But Hartnell just continued to not go down easy. Kaden Raymond hit a one-out solo shot in the fifth, and Ayden Ramirez doubled home the tying run a couple batters later.
To answer, Estrada hit his third double before a double from Bays gave the Vikings the lead right back. Eric Altmark followed with a double of his own and a single from Hill scored Altmark.
The Vikings extended in the bottom of the sixth. Estrada became the first Viking ever to hit four doubles in a game, doing it in just five plate apperances, and extending his lead on the all-time doubles crown. A couple walks loaded the bases for AJ Ljepava, a redshirt freshman who hadn't had much playing time. But he took advantage, slapping an 0-1 breaking ball into left-center to drive in a pair of runs and push the West Valley lead to five.
"AJ, in our eyes, he is a true center fielder," said Hill. "Some of the routes he takes after balls, I'm excited to see him out there. But for a young pup like that, it was good to get him some game time exposure. I know he's been wanting to get out there a lot, but he's got some guys ahead of him right now, and and he's just been waiting his turn and, you know, he actually put a good performance on again today. I know he had at-bats that he probably disliked, but he went out there and made a big play in the right-centerfield gap, and he didn't give up on his defense. Champships are won on the mound and on defense."
The relentless Panthers scored three off Ito in the top of the seventh, drawing the deficit to just two. In the eighth inning, Jordan Jackson allowed the first two runners to get on base as the Vikings brought in Kristall from his original spot in left field with the go-ahead run at the plate. The first pitch he threw was a wild one, nicking off the glove of the Vikings' catcher to put both runners in scoring position with still nobody out. But Kristall, who Hill mentioned he needed to "pitch angry" the week prior, did just that. He set down Raymond, John Clinkenbeard and Ethan Stelzer, three of the Panthers' top hitters, all by way of the looking K, to keep the Panthers at bay.
"Those hitters did not want to face him," said Hill. "I mean, they wanted no part of him. You saw it, you felt it. And then he was able to locate a secondary pitch, which was huge. But that's the Parker we need, especially, if we can get to this playoff run here. He's going to be big for us, especially with some of the injuries we've got on the mound right now."
The Vikings added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, and Kristall saved his second contest in three games as the Vikings won 13-10.
During the weeks' finale, the biggest story was not just the Viking victory, but big performances from players looking to surge before the postseason. Both Jordan Montez and Max Ghiglieri hit homers in the Vikings' 15-3 victory over Gavilan, and Hunter Olson and Colin Melrose combined for six scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Olson entered the game in the fourth inning, with the Vikings down 3-2 and runners on first and second with nobody out. The sophomore right-hander quickly got a double play grounder and a tapper back to the mound, pumping his fist as he helped escape almost the exact jam that Kristall had the day prior.
"Being ready from the first pitch, pitching to contact, and not letting yourself get behind," said Olson about the mentality of the bullpen to come in during difficult spots, "You have enough time in the bullpen to get warm and to trust your stuff, so I think it's just one pitch at a time, take a deep breath. The calmer you are, the more relaxed you will be, and in that situation, when you come in with runners on, you want to get a ground ball to try to get two, and make a double play happen, which did happen today."
Estrada echoed the sentiment, as the bullpen has continued to have stronger and stronger performances down the stretch.
"Parker gets on the mound, you know what you're getting," said Estrada. "Hunter this year matured a lot. You can just tell by the way he gets on the mound, he looks a lot more calm, looks confident, and he just looks ready to go after guys. So it's good to see both of them really hold it down for us and give us a chance to swing the bat."
At the plate, Ghiglieri came up in the bottom of the seventh and blew a two-run game wide open with a three-run shot to straightaway right field. Later in the inning, Montez hit a three-run tank of his own, this one to straightaway center, as the Viking lead blossomed.
"It's big," said Estrada. "No one in the [clubhouse] has a doubt that those hitters are good hitters. We all know they're good hitters. It's good that they are getting that confidence back, which really they didn't really lose. It's just, they're finally falling. It's good that we're kind of hitting our stride right towards playoffs. Got two more [regular season games], but I think we could really do damage in the playoffs."
West Valley continues its push to the postseason this week. The first game, originally scheduled to be on the road at Cabrillo on Tuesday, was moved to be at West Valley on Wednesday, with the Vikings the designated road team.