FRESNO -- Just a week before taking down No. 1 Fresno City in the Super Regional, No. 12 West Valley had its backs against the wall. Losers of the first game in double-elimination regional, West Valley took itself out of a hole and came out victorious to continue its season.

A week later, the Vikings are the ones on top. The Rams (40-5), who had lost just three games coming into the weekend, had early leads in both games, but late offense and clutch pitching performances pushed the Vikings (32-13) to an upset of the top-ranked team in the state. West Valley took game one, 9-6, and the Rams stranded two in scoring position in the ninth of game two as the Vikings won, 8-7.

The Rams entered the series with a sub-3.00 ERA as a team, and looked the part in the first inning. Hawaii-commit Nathan Leffel struck out a batter and coaxed some soft contact while working a 1-2-3 first inning. Fresno City, which also has a strong offense, scored after a pair of singles and an error in the first inning.

But the theme of game one became the Vikings' ability to respond from an early deficit. They trailed 1-0 after one and tied the game in the second. They trailed 2-1 after two and tied the game in the third. Starting pitcher Julian Ito limited the damage while allowing the West Valley offense to ease into the game off of Leffel.


Fresno City led 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning when the Viking offense started to swing it. Max Ghiglieri and Eric Altmark led off the inning by going back-to-back, and catcher Andrew Bonfigli added on another with a sacrifice fly later in the inning. After the Rams scored again in the bottom of the fifth, Altmark's sacrifice fly in the sixth brought the Viking lead back to two.

West Valley knocked Leffel out of the game in the top half of the seventh. Both Jordan Montez and Joey Damelio walked, and the Rams brought in left-hander Joel Arellano. He got AJ Ljepava to pop out to the right side, but on the first pitch he saw, second baseman Kenji Colston blasted a ball to left for his third home run of the postseason as the Vikings put nine on the board.

Fresno City scored a pair on two solo home runs late, but the Vikings had created more than enough separation to come out victorious in the first game and put the Rams on the hot seat.

In game two, the Vikings sent out freshman righty Apolo Lapiz, while the Rams answered with freshman lefty Wyatt Johnson. Both arms worked a scoreless first inning, but Fresno City scored the games' first run after a sacrifice fly in the top of the second. Just like in game one, the West Valley offense responded in game two. Joey Damelio led off the inning with a base hit and moved to second on an error. Ljepava blasted a ball off the high wall in right, but Damelio had to freeze on the play to make sure the ball wasn't caught, putting runners on second and third. Colston and Ghiglieri both grounded out, scoring both Damelio and Ljepava, as the Vikings took a one-run lead.

After the Rams scored in the top of the third, West Valley again responded, this time with three of its own. Parker Kristall led off the inning with a base hit and moved to second on a walk from Jordan Montez. Andrew Bonfigli doubled down the line in left to score Kristall and Damelio singled home another run. Ljepava's chopped scored Bonfigli, and the Vikings led 5-2.

Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, but the Rams threatened big time in the top of the fifth. Matt Torres led off the inning with a single, and after two quick outs, Dallan Alles was hit by a pitch. Ortega hit a bouncing ball up the middle that scored Torres. With two on and two out, Isac Mandujano doubled down the left field line, scoring Alles. But Ghiglieri, who has his fair share of outfield assists with his cannon out in left, fired a perfect throw in to David Estrada at third, and his relay to the plate nabbed Ortega easily, keeping the Vikings up one. That number turned to two in the bottom half, as Damelio's third hit of the day made it 6-4 West Valley.

Quincy Winkler entered from the bullpen and worked two hitless innings as the Vikings tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh. But in the eighth, Winkler hit a batter and walked a pair with two outs to load the bases for Drake Davis, the Rams' best hitter. West Valley responded by bringing in Kristall, who had closed out his team-high fourth save less than 24 hours more. After a balk brought home one, Kristall induced a tapper back to the mound to keep West Valley up, 7-5. The Vikings would add one more in the bottom of the eighth and lead by three going into the final frame.

But things got interesting. Gilbert Acosta, who had homered in the ninth inning the day before, did the same against Kristall on a 3-2 fastball to make it 8-6. Alles followed by being hit by a pitch, and Mandujano worked a one-out walk. Brayden Chiarito reached on a fielders' choice, and with two outs, a popup from shortstop Tyler O'Toole evaded the glove of Montez at first, bringing home a run and putting runners on second and third with two down and the top of the order up. Kristall struck out Jace Davies looking on just three pitches, freezing the center fielder on a changeup on the outside corner to secure the Viking victory.

The win marks the third-straight season the Vikings reached the North Final. Last season, West Valley took down this very Fresno City team, losing in game one but rebounding in the last two. They now head northeast to Quincy, CA, to take on the Feather River College Golden Eagles, who took a best-of-three series against Hartnell last weekend.