CUPERTINO -- In a game with summertime feel, the Vikings' bats came out blazing with a seven-run second inning in a bounceback victory against De Anza College.

No. 15 West Valley (11-5) is just a game away from conference play, and after a heartbreaking loss to Skyline, a reset against De Anza feels like just what the doctor ordered. The Mountain Lions (3-13) jumped out to the games' first lead, but De Anza's pitching faltered down the stretch as the Vikings downed the Lions, 16-7.

Saturday's contest got off to an ominous beginning for the Vikings, as following a leadoff walk from Joey Damelio, Parker Kristall grounded into a double play -- the Vikings' fifth over the last eight innings -- and West Valley went down scoreless. In the bottom of the first, Quincy Winkler took the hill for the Vikings. Winkler allowed a leadoff walk before a wild pitch moved Drew Paxton to second base with nobody out. A groundout and another wild pitch brought home De Anza's first run, and after an inning, the Mountain Lions led, 1-0.

But the bats got going in the top of the second thanks to a handful of players biding their way for more playing time. Andrew Bonfigli led off the inning with a single and with one out, Kalen Clemmens mashed a ball off the fencing in right for a double to set the table. After David Colon walked to load the bases, Ryan Bays roped a single into left to bring in a pair of runs. Bays, the Vikings' opening day catcher, has appeared mostly off the bench as West Valley's backup first baseman, but was extremely successful against De Anza. Damelio followed with a sacrifice fly before David Estrada doubled to bring home a pair more. The Vikings batted around in the second as Bonfigli brought home two more runs on a ball questionably marked as an error on De Anza's third baseman as the Vikings controlled a 7-1 lead.

West Valley added one more in the third inning when Bays led off with a single, stole second, and came home to score on another RBI single from Estrada. Following an ultra rare, five-game hitless streak, Estrada has returned to his spot as one of the Vikings' top options. Over his last three games, the preseason All-American is 5-for-11 with a pair of doubles while driving in eight runs. All of a sudden, Estrada is tied for second on the Vikings with 20 RBI.

Bays continued his terrific day in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly before Damelio singled to bring home the Vikings' tenth run of the contest.

Out of the bullpen, Julian Ito displayed heavy strikeout stuff while keeping his control throughout the strike zone. Ito (2-0) struck out seven batters in four innings out of the bullpen, gaining more and more confidence with each of his pitches and getting stronger as the game went on.

The Vikings tacked on a couple more runs in the eighth before Colon's first collegiate home run pushed their final run across in the ninth. Colon, who anecdotally hasn't pitched since his sophomore year of high school, also pitched the bottom of the ninth for the Vikings, striking out the last batter he faced to close out the victory.

All in all, it was a terrific day for Bays (4-for-5, three RBI) and Clemmens (2-for-3, three walks, three runs scored) while Colin Melrose threw extremely well out of the bullpen. The Vikings have one more game remaining in non-conference, taking on the City College of San Francisco at home on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.