Vikings split doubleheader with Wenatchee Valley
Mar. 26—MOSES LAKE — The Big Bend Community College Vikings (8-12) split their home doubleheader against Wenatchee Valley in the first game of conference play for the season. The Vikings fell 3-8 in the first game but came back to win 7-5 in the second.
"It was nice to see the response in game two," said Vikings Head Coach Chase Tunstall. "Karter Wilson came out and gave us his best outing of the year so far. " In the first game, the Vikings got on the board in the first inning, scoring off a single from Isaiah Aliksa, sending Ricardo Leon Guerrero II and Kevin Garcia home.
Big Bend increased their lead in the second quarter when Leon Guerrero hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Rylan Osjornsen to lead 3-0 at the top of the third. Wenatchee Valley chipped away at the Vikings' lead in the third and fourth inning, scoring two runs to put the score at 3-2. The Vikings maintained their lead until the top of the eighth when Wenatchee scored six runs to put the game at 3-8.
BBCC was unable to respond in the final two at-bats and Wenatchee Valley claimed victory. Chase Fleming pitched seven innings for the Vikings, throwing seven strikeouts, followed by Cole McKinnon and Dayton Shimatsu, who threw one strikeout. "We started off hot the first couple innings, had a phenomenal outing from Chase Fleming; we had the lead in the top of the eighth and ran into some good hitting by Wenatchee," said Tunstall.
"We kind of gave it away toward the end there and they beat us. " BBCC was slower to start in the second game as Wenatchee Valley was first on the board with a run in the second inning. The Vikings began to gain offensive momentum in the fourth inning as Alex Hirai walked with bases loaded, scoring Ryley Doig and Jaime Ruelas grounded out to score Isaiah Aliksa to gain a 2-1 lead.