SARATOGA -- In easily the most highly-anticipated matchup of the young 3C2A season to this point, the top two teams in the recent coaches' poll faced off on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Both teams -- the home side, second-ranked West Valley Vikings and the visitors, the No. 1 College of San Mateo Bulldogs -- entered the game with substantial winning streaks. West Valley (19-1, 1-1 Coast) started its season with 19 straight wins after falling in the state championship last season. On the other hand, the top-ranked Bulldogs (22-0, 2-0 Coast) hadn't lost since April of 2025, when they traveled to Saratoga in a tightly contested, 4-3 loss.

Matchup number one between the two NorCal powerhouses had the same matchup early on, as it was a tied game with two outs in the top of the sixth, but the ever-powerful CSM bats led the charge the rest of the way in a 5-1 defeat.

The game had inauspicious beginnings for the Vikings. Starting pitcher Ana Marquez seemed to get Ale Phillips, the CSM leadoff hitter, out on a fly ball to right field, but the play was called back with a ball added in Phillips' favor after the umpiring crew agreed Marquez had thrown an illegal pitch. Phillips worked a full count before being hit by a pitch and coming around to score on a single from Love Cabanas. Marquez would be called for another illegal pitch, though this one did not impact the score, in the second inning.

Bulldog starting pitcher Lola Sierra set down six of the first seven batters she faced, only allowing a single from Mo Temple, through two innings. In the top of the third, Marquez worked two quick outs before back-to-back hit by pitches brought up Katie Johnson, who entered the day hitting .523 with seven homers. Johnson hit a hard ground ball up the middle, but a diving Izzy Paskert at shortstop had the wherewithal to dive to her forehand side, snag the ball atop the second base bag and tap the bag with her glove to force the runner out and end the inning.

That momentum continued into the bottom fo the third inning. Temple, who had the only Vikings hit to that point, smashed a 1-1 pitch off the glove of the Bulldogs' third baseman that rattled into the corner. Out in left field, the Bulldog left fielder picked the ball up before play was officially called dead, almost a carbon copy of the play that Paskert had homered on against the College of the Sequoias. But the umpiring crew assessed the play as a double, planting Temple on second base. After Raylene Cruz flied out to center, pinch hitter Angie Fulkerson grounded a double past the third base bag to even the score at one. 

Fulkerson, the Vikings' freshman third baseman and designated player, has absolutely found a niche coming off the bench. She now has three doubles and a home run as a pinch hitter this season.

After Kaylee Kline threw a clean top of the fifth and got a pair of easy outs in the sixth, Bulldogs' sixth-place hitter Hannah Ames hit a dribller in a vacated area on the infield as she reached first base. Selena Gonzales flipped a single into left field and, in arguably the at-bat of the season, Kline battled with Peyton Huber. In a 3-2 count, Huber tucked a ball inside the left field foul pole for her first home run of the season to give the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish. College of San Mateo added a run in the top of the seventh, and though the Vikings worked a two-out walk, a ground out would end the game.

West Valley continues conference play on Thursday, hitting the road as the Vikings head to the East Bay to take on Chabot.