Logan Stelling hit his ninth HR Saturday against MPC
The old baseball adage – one inning at a time – was epitomized by West Valley's 7-5 come-from-behind victory over Monterey Peninsula College Saturday at Valhalla. The win, the 14th straight for the Vikings, gave WVC a season sweep of the Lobos and concluded a perfect 13-0 March.
MPC (17-12, 4-5 Coast-South) put three on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth to vault into a 5-3 lead and answer WVC's three-run fourth.
The Vikings (23-6, 9-0) used the long ball from two familiar faces in the bottom of the fourth. Jayce Dobie clubbed a two-run tater to left, his sixth on the season, and, a batter later, Logan Stelling launched a solo shot, his team-leading ninth HR, to left-center. The dingers gave WVC a short-lived 3-2 lead.
After MPC's three-run outburst in the fifth, West Valley executed the one-inning-at-a-time axiom to perfection. The Vikings shut out Lobos the rest of the way, allowing just a trio of baserunners, while scoring one run in each of the fifth through the eighth innings.
Dobie finished 2-for-2 with three RBI. Karter Wong banged out an RBI single and a double, and James Bose doubled. Dobie pitched the opening five innings, surrendering five runs on four hits. Reliever Adrian Valdez gave up no runs and only two hits, while striking out four, to pick up the win. Jake Jones got the save.
The WVC/MPC series was highly competitive with 6-5, 7-5 and 7-5 scores in the three-game set. The Vikings, ranked 4th in the north in the recent CCCBCA poll, travel to Cabrillo (13-15, 6-3) Tuesday for a 2:30pm tilt. The Spring Break series continues at Valhalla Thursday (4/4) and returns to Aptos Saturday (4/9).
