SANTA ROSA -- Two red-hot teams faced off in a Wednesday afternoon, rain-aided clash. While the Vikings, who have had to play with a deficit in a majority of their wins this season, jumped out to an early lead, their bats cooled down late in a loss ot No. 20 Santa Rosa.

West Valley (9-2) started the season on its best ten-game start in recorded program history, in large part due to wins where it played with a deficit. Looking back on games like the opener against Butte, where the Vikings were down 8-0 but came back to win 13-12, or earlier this season against Santa Rosa, where a three-run home run from Parker Kristall turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead, the Vikings have had magic on their side early on. But the Bear Cubs (9-3) came out with a vengeance and took advantage of two West Valley errors to split the season series, taking game two 7-3.

First pitch for the ballgame was originally scheduled on Tuesday but had to be pushed back due to poor weather in the area. The Vikings made the trek to Santa Rosa early on Wednesday morning and were set down 1-2-3 in the top half of the first inning on a pair of groundouts and a flyout. Following this, rain in the area paused the game before the Vikings could try to grasp momentum back on the defensive end.

When play resumed, veteran righty Sebastian Buller took the mound for the Vikings. Buller (0-1) flashed dominant strikeout stuff, punching out five in his 3.2 innings of work but allowed four runs (two earned), though he escaped the first inning even after a two-out error from David Estrada at third.

In the top of the second inning, Joey Damelio led off with a walk when Kristall, who is making his name as a guy that the state does not want to have to pitch against in big spots, demolished a ball to tie the team lead with his fifth home run of the season. He's reached base in each of the Vikings 11 games thus far after only receiving three at-bats last season at Wabash Valley College.

Buller got two quick outs with the bottom of Santa Rosa's lineup looming in the bottom of the second inning, but Anane Wilson doubled to right and Bear Cub catcher RJ Johnson homered to tie the score. Leadoff hitter Cooper Wood tripled to ramp up the intensity, but it seemed Buller would escape the inning in a draw until a ball to first baseman Jordan Montez slipped his reach, bringing home the go-ahead run. Santa Rosa added one more late in the inning.

One of the bright spots in the game for West Valley was freshman righty Apolo Lapiz. The local product from Bellarmine Prep missed the early portion of the season and was used in a short, late-inning role, but threw some big innings against the Bear Cubs. He entered with a runner on third and stranded him there and retired seven of the first eight batters he faced.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings had a little bit of momentum on their side thanks to the stellar pitching of Lapiz. However, they were unable to translate it to the offensive end. Even with a pair of baserunners, the Vikings went down in order and didn't have a hit from the third through the sixth inning before Joey Damelio's double ended the streak. He would later come around to score on a Montez groundout, cutting the score to 4-3 at the seventh inning stretch.

But a pair of Bear Cub walks in the bottom of the seventh came around to score on a two-out double from Miles Clayton to create some separation, and a Trevor Schlafer home run in the eighth off Bryce Berry was the dagger.

Now, the Vikings have some work to do this weekend against another Big 8 opponent, taking on Cosumnes River in a home-and-home on Friday and Saturday.