SARATOGA -- After walking off a fiesty Cosumnes River squad in game one of the 2026 Super Regional, the West Valley Vikings strung together two consecutive late rallies in the second and third (and decisive) games of the series, but stellar pitching from Hawks righty Kaylena Ogle ended the Vikings' season a game short of the State Championship.
West Valley, which used late-game magic in each of the two regular season matchups against Cosumnes River, needed more of that in the first game of a best-of-three set. An RBI single from Mo Temple in the third and an RBI double from Destiny Solis in the fourth pushed West Valley ahead, 2-1.
But the Hawks strung together a lengthy fifth inning. Starting pitcher Kaylee Kline, strong for a majority of the opener, gave up a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases before walking Imani Black, the Hawks' best hitter, to bring home the tying run. Sophomore stopper Ana Marquez entered, still with the bases loaded, and walked Garcia to put Cosumnes River ahead by one.
With CRC still up by one heading into the final frame, West Valley used some of its patented late-game spark. Solis led off the inning by patiently working a walk, and she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ella Moser. April Price singled and moved to second, and freshman shortstop Izzy Paskert's booming double off the wall in right-center sent West Valley home happy, pushing Cosumnes River to the brink.
In the opener of Saturday's double header, the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when, with runners on second and third and one out, Amelia Sizemore allowed a two-run, ground-rule double to Emma Misasi. The Vikings threatened in each of the next two innings, but stranded two runners on after a pair of two-out rallies in the fifth and sixth innings. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, and Cosumnes River as the designated home team, Garcia homered to straightaway left to put Cosumnes River up three.
Still, the Vikings pushed. With one out in their half of the seventh, Paskert and Temple singled to put two on with just one out. Katy Lambert, a two-way threat who had been a sparkplug off the bench all season, hit a slow chopper up the middle. Ogle, who had labored through 6.1 innings at that point, fielded the ball but sailed her throw wide of the third base bag, scoring both Paskert and Temple. But Lambert froze running past the second base bag and, on a late try to push an extra runner just 60 feet away from scoring the tying run, was thrown out at third. The Vikings trailed by one.
Raylene Cruz, the sophomore leader of the Vikings, followed with a two-out walk and was pinch-ran for by Zoe Griffin. That brought up the power-hitting freshman Angie Fulkerson, the Viking-leader with five home runs. In a 1-1 count, Fulkerson delivered one of her hardest-hit balls of the season, jumping out in front of a hanging breaking ball from Ogle, but it curled just foul. Ogle responded by getting Fulkerson to chase off the outside edge and finalize the contest, 3-2 Hawks.
Just 40 minutes later, both teams rebounded with rocky starts. Now in the circle, Lambert loaded the bases with nobody out and the center of the Cosumnes River order up. But Garcia, who entered the game with just two strikeouts on the season, swung through a two-strike pitch from Lambert to put one out on the board. And Misasi, who had already torched the Vikings, grounded into a 5-3 double play to end the inning.
But from there, it was all Cosumnes River. Four runs came home in the top half of the second inning, three happening with two down in the inning. Ogle, who threw a complete game in the opener, cruised through the order with a four-run cushion in the finale. By the time the bottom of the seventh inning came along, the Vikings trailed by six and hadn't even had a runner on third.
Still, the Vikings showed fight again in the bottom of the seventh. Lexi Bojorquez-Nava led off the inning with a towering shot to right-center field that died just in front of the wall and took a sliding catch from Faith Hahn in center for the first out of the inning. Solis followed with a double, moved to third on a single, and came around to score on a base hit from Moser. Then, April Price and Paskert hit back-to-back doubles, and just like that, the Vikings had the tying run in the on deck circle. But that's where it would stay. Temple grounded out to third, and a pinch-hitting Lambert struck out to end the game.
In a season full of miraculous comebacks, West Valley fell just short against a Cosumnes River team that had championship aspirations coming into the season and scuffled through a rigorous Big 8 schedule. Still, a large part of the Vikings' roster returns in the 2027 season. Players like Kline, Lambert, Solis, Paskert and Fulkerson, amongst a handful of others, are the building blocks for the future. Head coach Vicky Piatt has long preached the value of building a year-over-year culture, and what is currently a youthful Viking roster will now have an extra year of experience and confidence under their belt.