SARATOGA -- In a battle of familiar faces, West Valley returns to the 3C2A Super Regional, as the Vikings (37-4, 11-3 Coast) take on 10th-seeded Cosumnes River. The Hawks (25-17, 13-11 Big 8) played a grueling regular season slate, both in the conference and non-conference, and parlayed that success into an upset-victory over seventh-seeded Cabrillo in the opening round.
On the other hand, second-seeded West Valley is coming off a clean sweep of Sacramento City College in the first round. Pitching was the key to the weekend, as the Vikings held the Panthers to just one run over the two games played.
But this is a Cosumnes River team that gave the Vikings fits when the pair played a double header earlier this season. On February 13, the Vikings and Hawks met at Viking Field in Saratoga and played two thrilling games, with the Vikings coming out on top 3-2 in each of them. It was a pair of gritty, competitive games, with each having postseason feel. At the time, Cosumnes River was ranked No. 6 in the state, but it struggled in conference play and nearly dropped out of the states' top-20 by the end of the season.
The first series between the two teams was a two-way spectacle from West Valley freshman catcher Destiny Solis. In the two games, she went 3-for-7 with a pair of doubles. In the eighth inning of the second game, Solis nabbed the would-be go-ahead runner heading to second on a stolen base attempt then led off the bottom half of the inning with a double while coming home to score the winning run.
In their first postseason series of the year, however, the story was the pitching. In specific, freshman Kaylee Kline had her best outing of the year in the opener, tossing a complete-game shutout while striking out a season-high nine batters. It halted an up-and-down stretch for the freshman, who has been one of head coach Vicky Piatt's highest-leverage options this season.
Another player who battled through the regular season and was terrific in the Sacramento City series was outfielder Lexi Bojorquez-Nava. Over the two games, Bojorquez-Nava went 3-for-7 with a double and a home run that put game one completely out of reach. In just 93 at-bats this season, Bojorquez-Nava has been an extra-base machine, with 12 doubles, three triples and four home runs. That means, in over 20-percent of her at-bats this season, she's got an extra base hit. She also has two home runs over her last four games.
Cosumnes River is a sophomore-heavy offense led by Ashley Garcia, who is hitting .397 this season, and Imani Black, who has a team-high 14 doubles and five home runs. Overall, it's not an offense that relies on the longball, but as the Vikings saw early this season, an offense which is strongest when the lights are brightest. In their three games against Cabrillo, the Hawks put up 22 runs, including a ten-run performance in the opener. In that game, it was the bottom half of Cosumnes River's lineup that did the most damage, as each of the last four hitters had multiple hits, combining to go 8-for-13 while driving in five runs.
This weekend, the Vikings aim for back-to-back trips to the state championship series. First pitch for game one in the best-of-three set is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Friday afternoon.