SARATOGA -- After a week where the Vikings played five extra-inning games in a five-day span, No. 3 West Valley softball continued its dominant start to the 2026 season in slightly easier fashion. Back at home for a quick three-game trip, the Vikings took down Reedley in a Tuesday daytime pair, winning 5-3 in the first game before a run-rule victory in game two.

"We played well enough to win two games," said West Valley head coach Vicky Piatt. "I think they made a great adjustment between the first and the second game. I had to remind the girls that when you're 11-0,
every team we play is coming out to play their best softball. Everyone wants to beat you. And so we had to remind them, you don't get to take a break. And so I think after we had that talk, they checked in and were like, 'yeah, we need to make sure that we're playing to our standard every inning.'"

With sophomore Amelia Sizemore starting against the Tigers (2-9) in the circle in game one, the Vikings (13-0) breezed through the top of the first as Sizemore yielded a quick groundout before striking out the next two Tigers. West Valley jumped on the board first, as shortstop Izzy Paskert led off the Vikings' offense with a double before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt and coming home to score on a Lexi Bojorquez-Nava ground out. Paskert, who reached base five times over two games while only being retired twice, has found a niche as the Vikings' leadoff hitter. 

"It' fun," said Paskert. "I haven't batted leadoff since I was like a little kid. So this is like a nice transition back. But I like it. I like to have like the first hit of the game, set the tone. I'm hype, I'm excited. I feel the cheering. I'm like, 'let's go! Let's get it going.'"

Sizemore worked around two walks in the second inning before striking out her third and fourth batters through two innings, continuing with the strikeout stuff that made her one of the Coast-South's top pitchers in her freshman year. In the bottom of the second inning, the bottom third of the lineup kept the scoring going, with center fielder April Price driving in a run with a single before third baseman Ella Moser batted her home. 

"We have confidence in the team," said Price about how the lineup continues to provide, even when it gets deeper into the order, "just knowing that if the top's not doing it, then the bottom has their back. Even if the bottom's not on it, the top. We always have a team where if some of us aren't on it, the others will be on it. [We are] able to provide for the team as best as we can."

The Vikings carried the momentum in the third inning when freshman catcher Destiny Solis picked a runner off second base. She then hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning, and just a week after being named 3C2A hitter of the week, the freshman continues to provide big moment after big moment for the third-ranked team in the state.

However, Reedley pushed the games' next three runs across, scoring one in the top of the fourth when Moser made a throwing error and one more on a sacrifice fly. The Tigers added one more by playing some small ball in the top of the fifth, knocking a one-out doule before a steal of third and a double-steal of home and second made it just a two-run game going into the bottom of the fifth, where the Vikings couldn't add on to their lead.

But in the top of the sixth, West Valley sent sophomore Ana Marquez to the circle, and in a small sample, she had one of her finest outings of the season as she picked up her second save of the year. After a leadoff single, Marquez retired six of the next seven batters she faced, striking out four to keep the Tigers at bay. One of the most energetic players on the field at all times for the Vikings pumped her fist in celebration as she closed out the Vikings' 5-3 victory.

Though the result was a victory, the process wasn't exactly what the Vikings were expecting in the series opener. Acknowleding the taregt on their back as one of just four undefeated teams left in the state, West Valley attacked with a venegance in game two. Freshman Kaylee Kline took the bump for West Valley, retiring the side in the first inning while picking up her first strikeout. 

In the bottom half, Paskert led off with a single before a pair of walks from Mo Temple and Raylene Cruz loaded the bases. Bojorquez-Nava grounded into a fielders' choice that cut the lead runner at home, but freshman Angie Fulkerson delivered. On her birthday, Fulkerson clobbered a ball to the right-centerfield gap that scored all three runs as she cruised into second with a three-run double before coming home to score on a sacrifice fly from Solis.

"Our first game was good, but we just needed to clean a few things up," said Fulkerson. "We all wanted to just like get a solid start to the game. And my mindset was just hit the ball hard. Don't pop it up, because we had runners on base and score as many as we could.

She's had her fair share of big moments early, like helping end the Vikings' 14-inning nailbiter against Delta, but her confidence has continued to grow with the more at-bats she takes.

"[I'm] getting more comfortable on my confidence in myself," said Fulkerson, "and just knowing that my team is confident in me. And knowing that like if I don't get a hit one at bat, like it's not a big deal. If I strike out one at bat, like I don't carry it with me. I try not to. I try to adjust and talk to my teammates about what the pitcher's throwing. I don't need to hit it over the fence. I just need to hit a hard line drive and that'll get the job done."

Now pitching with a four-run lead, Kline struck out the first batter of the second inning before a single and a pair of throwing errors put two in scoring position before the Reedley left fielder Angeline Castellanos brought both home. It was a make-or-break moment early on for Kline, and one that Piatt let her work out of. 

"[There was only one out," said Piatt, "and then she ended up striking out the next two batters. She really locked in and found it. And those were the things that I'm looking to see from her, because she's going to get a lot of swings and misses. That's the type of pitcher she is. And so in that moment right there, I really got the glimpse of, 'yes, Kaylee, this is you.' It reminds me of [Marquez], too, because last year [Marquez] would have these moments. I feel like Kaylee's on the right track."

Comparing Kline, a freshman, to Marquez, an all-conference-level sophomore, is not something that Piatt takes lightly. But as this program continues to build in the year-to-year progress, it's going to need freshmen like Kline and Fulkerson to help carry the load. In two wins over Reedley, it's exactly what the two of them did. But to a point about leadership, Kline displayed maturity well beyond her years when asked to bear down in a close game early on.

"I just kind of realized," said Kline, "you kind of have to go into things with like an 'I don't care' attitude, even if that sounds bad. Even after like giving up a few hits and a few runs, I was just like, 'it's okay'. I know I can pitch well, and I know I can get these batters out. So just trust myself, trust my preparation. And at the end of the day, it's just a sport. So just try to have fun because that's going to get you to play well."

In the bottom of the second, freshman April Price led off the inning with a home run, her first of the season and, to her recollection, the first since she was playing fall travel ball. Price jumped on a 1-0 hanger and sent a ball over the West Valley logo in center field.

"The adrenaline kicked in," said Price. "I was really happy that I was able to do that for my team. It felt really nice just getting that out the way. I thought, 'keep it simple, swing down and just go to contact'. Nothing crazy. Just whatever I can do to get on base or move the runners over."

Still, it was part of a trend for the Vikings, whose bottom half of the lineup dominated in the sweep. Combining the numbers between two games, the Vikings' 6-9 hitters combined to go 5-for-17 with four runs batted in, with Price going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI single in the two games. On a day where the middle of the order set the table, the back-end bats helped the Vikings convert.

"The middle of the lineup," said Piatt, "the sophomores were the ones that we were depending on to kind of bring their experience. And now that our freshmen in the lower half of our lineup, they've seen more pitching and more at-bats. And they're coming into their own. It's big for us because, if you can only depend on the first four hitters on any team, if you're only scoring in the top of the lineup, then it limits what you're doing each inning. So I think being able to depend on April coming through and hitting that home run, what does it do? Not only it puts us on the board, but it also pumps everybody up. Because April's a base hit, gap-type of hitter. So to be able to hit a home run, it does a lot more than just get that extra run."

Kline continued her solid start on the other end, working around a leadoff hit by pitch before setting the Tigers down in order in the fourth. Moser hit a one-out single in the bottom half, moved to second on a single from Paskert, and both came home to score on a two-out, two-strike, two-run triple from Bojorquez-Nava to really put the final dagger on the scoreboard. West Valley turned a 4-6-3 double play in the top of the fifth to nullify an early baserunner, and the Vikings took four walks after a one-out single to complete the run-rule victory. Raylene Cruz's four-pitch walk brough home Moser to completely put an end to the game.

Up next, the Vikings have their longest roadstand of the season to this point, heading up north to take on Yuba on Friday before Butte in a Saturday doubleheader. Then, the Vikings open conference play on the road at Monterey Peninsula next Thursday.