FREMONT -- West Valley baseball threw its first shutout of the season against and took care of business on the road against Ohlone as the Vikings (27-12, 13-7 Coast-South) enter the postseason on a six-game win streak.
A double from Kenji Colston and a single from Max Ghiglieri provided enough cushion in the week's opening game against Cabrillo as Apolo Lapiz continued his stellar stretch. The freshman, who made eight of his first nine appearances out of the bullpen, lasted 6.1 shutout innings, striking out eight batters for the second straight start.
Through his last four outings, all in the midst of a postseason push, the freshman right-hander is 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA in 26.1 innings, striking out 25 and walking just five. His season ERA, which was at 4.35 before the stretch, is now at a team-best 2.87.
Parker Kristall hit a fifth inning home run, his team-leading 14th of the season, and the duo of Jordan Jackson and Colin Melrose shut things down in the final frames as the Vikings picked up their first shutout of the season.
West Valley followed with one of its most complete games of the season, taking down No. 4 Ohlone on the road and becoming just the second team this season to take down the Renegades on their home turf. They jumped out early against Ohlone's Matthew Anderson, a Division I commit to Santa Clara University, scoring twice in the first on a double from Joey Damelio and a single from Andrew Bonfigli.
Making his first start on the bump this season, Kristall was solid, going four innings of two-run ball while striking out five. Eric Altmark's third inning home run pushed the Vikings up by three before Kristall allowed a pair in the bottom of the fourth, with Ohlone keeping things close in the early part of the game.
Aaron Baum and Julian Ito traded zeroes with Anderson and Ohone reliever Drew Greenberg from there, as the score stayed 3-2 Vikings through the seventh inning.
West Valley tacked on a pair of runs off of Greenberg, who had lost his stellar command, in the top of the eighth. Kristall and Damelio took a walk and David Estrada punched a single to left to load the bases for Jordan Montez, who walked to bring home an insurance run. Freshman center fielder AJ Ljepava hustled out a ground ball to prevent a double play and bring home another run, as the Vikings now led 5-2.
Ohlone got one back in the bottom of the eighth, with Julian Cambra's solo shot cutting the deficit back to just two.
But the Vikings answered the call yet again. With one down in the top of the ninth, Altmark hit his second home run of the game, this one a towering shot that cleared the batter's eye in dead center field, soaring high above the 400-foot marker plastered on the Ohlone outfield fence. It continues a strong stretch for Altmark, who is hitting .500 with three doubles and a pair of home runs while pinballing from center to third base to even playing shortstop when his number was called there.
A two-out, two-run double from Bonfigli gave the Vikings plenty of cushion for the bottom of the ninth, where Ito stranded a runner on third to complete his four innings of one-run ball.
Now, the Vikings hit the road to take on a difficult pair of teams, facing the hosts Skyline and third-seeded Los Medanos in the double-elimination bracket. It's a rematch of last years' super regional, where the Vikings took down Los Medanos 13-4 in the opener before splitting the first pair against Skyline. In a decisive game three between the Vikings and the Trojans, West Valley had a commanding early lead before Skyline's late comeback. With the game tied in the bottom of the 10th inning, Isaac Hawthrone's single scored Xander Sielken to clinch a spot in the North Final. Now, the Vikings look to spark some postseason magic again, as Bobby Hill's squad enters with a full head of steam.