Colin Spear clubbed a pair of homers, and Kai Laxa added a solo shot to lead West Valley to a 10-7 win at American River College Saturday afternoon. The victory in Sacramento earned the Vikings (1-1) a split with the Beavers (1-1) in the season-opening series for both clubs. 

Laxa's blast gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead through three innings, but ARC would put four runs across in the home half of the 4th for a short-lived 4-3 lead. The Vikings struck for six in the top of the 5th thanks to a three-run bomb from Spear, an RBI-double from Carmelo Rivera and a run-scoring single from Kenji Colston. Spear's solo HR in the top of the 6th made it 10-4. The Beavers inched closer at 10-7 with three runs in the 8th, but WVC reliever Antonio Nordman struck out the side - sandwiched around a Jayden Reynolds single - to end it. 

Jake Jones earned the win on the mound, giving up no runs on one hit in 3 1/3 innings of work. Spear was 2-for-4 with four RBI, three runs-scored and those two taters. Laxa and Colston had two-hit outings, as did Andrew Bonfigli and Xander Sielken, who had a pair of doubles.

The Vikings travel to Santa Rosa Tuesday (1/28) to take on the Bear Cubs (2-0) and then return to Valhalla Wednesday (1/29) to face Merced (0-1). Both games are slated to start at 2:00pm.

Friday, Jan. 24: American River over West Valley 12-8 

The Vikings welcomed the Beavers to Valhalla Friday afternoon for the 2025 season opener. David Estrada's solo homer highlighted a four-run WVC 6th inning that ended with WVC up 5-1. ARC exploded for six runs in the top of the 7th for a 7-5 Beaver lead. They would score five more in the top of the 9th for the 12-8 win.

Estrada finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI. Rivera knocked in two runs, while Colston went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Trevon Jones was 2-for-4 with two runs-scored, and Drew Dillehay had a double. Viking starter Nico Wagner hurled an impressive five innings, surrendering no runs and only one hit and striking out five Beavers. Bryce Berry took the loss.