The Viking boys had a rough baseball season opener against the Concrete Lions with a 10-0 thumping on March 21.
“Miles Harlow pitched a pretty good game, but we gave up five unearned runs with some fielding errors,” said Coach Jim Passer. “We did not hit the ball, not because of a strong Concrete pitcher, but early season jitters. We were not ready to play.”
On the positive, Passer was very pleased with eighth grade players who played up making the 2014 baseball team a reality.
The Viking boys played a double header against the Lopez Lobos and rebounded with two wins, both 13-1, on March 29.
“Miles pitched a little erratic but when the ball was over the plate Lopez couldn’t hit it,” Passer said. “He only gave up one run and a hit and he kept their hitters off balance the whole game. Also, we hit the ball much better.”
In the second game, Passer said Pasha Bullock pitched very well and only gave up two hits. Again, Passer was pleased with the eighth graders.
“The kids are working really hard and I am really enjoying them, they are a great group of boys,” Passer said.
The Viking girls opened the season with a close loss 13-10 against the Concrete Lions.
First year head coach Jason Nichols had his hands full with a young team, including eighth graders playing up.
“We still have a couple starts out because they don’t have the required practices, so we had to shuffle players to positions they don’t have a lot of experience,” he said.
Despite the lineup changes, Nichols said the team still hit well, nearly keeping pace with the Lions.
Nichols was pleased that his seniors Bella Nigretto, Shelbi Rogers and Alicia Susol all had extra base hits while the eighth graders playing up gained the experience they will need for the team to improve.
The Vikings girls dropped their second game of the season to Forest Ridge, 16-13, on March 28.
Nichols saw improvement in his young team despite the loss.
“We played pretty well. We still had our pitching and fielding give up some runs, but overall I see signs of improvement,” he said. “I still have players in unfamiliar positions but by the next game our missing starters will have all their required practices.”
