SARATOGA -- At the start of a three-game week which included opening Coast-South play, No. 15 West Valley baseball took down the City College of San Francisco on Tuesday. In a game where 20 different Vikings appeared, West Valley took down the Rams, 10-1.

Bryce Berry took the mound for the Vikings (12-5), continuing to display his big-time strikeout stuff while allowing just one earned run over his three innings. He struck out a pair in the top of the first inning, three in the second and a pair more in the third. It was his third straight game striking out seven batters, after not reaching that mark in any of his previous outings in his two year career. Berry, who averaged just under a strikeout per inning last season, is now up to 11th in the state in strikeouts on the mound.

After stranding the bases loaded in the first, West Valley got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Eric Altmark reached when he was hit by a pitch before stealing second and coming home to score on a Max Ghiglieri single. An Anthony Rael single put two on with one out before Kalen Clemmens, in the lineup for the second straight game, tripled when the Rams' left fielder couldn't spot the ball. 

The games' next four runs -- one from San Francisco and three from West Valley -- all came home to score on wild pitches, setting up the Vikings with a seven-run lead going into the fourth. Fresh off his first start as a Viking, freshman righty Apolo Lapiz entered out of the bullpen and dazzled, stirking out three over three scoreless innings while picking up his first victory as a Viking. He was given a bit more of a cushion when a pair of one-out walks and a double steal set the table for Eric Altmark. After a tumultuous month, Altmark found his swing against the Rams, dunking a pitch into right field to bring in both runs as part of a two-hit day.

West Valley scored two more runs, one each coming in the sixth and seventh innings, but sophomore right-hander Colin Melrose held down the fort on the mound. Melrose had an up-and-down start to his season but his absolutely coming into form of late. Over his last three outings, he's combined to throw 4.2 innings of two-hit baseball, not allowing a run while striking out three and, maybe most importantly, not walking any.

In the top of the ninth inning, freshman left-hander Aaron Baum made his Viking-debut, striking out the side in order. The emergence of Melrose and the debut of Baum could be massive for the Vikings going forward. There's been a lot of shifting in roles in the bullpen to this part of the season, but the Vikings have only thrown two lefties -- Tre LeGrone III and Ghiglieri -- this season. Melrose, with his live fastball and infectous energy, has blossomed into a potential late-inning piece as well.

After a couple of reset games against De Anza and San Francisco, the Vikings open conference play on Thursday, taking on Cañada College on the road.