In what may have been the most improbable, inspiring and shocking playoff weekend in 3C2A baseball history, the West Valley Vikings came back to win three, two of the walk-off variety, games against Los Medanos and Folsom Lake at the 3C2A NorCal Super Regionals at Valhalla.
The superlatives are endless, but can be encapsulated by stating three conference champions, each with more than 30 wins, met at an idyllic setting with the best weather so far in 2024 (OK, it was a little warm), and played the best baseball of their community college careers. Fans got more than their money's worth at what many consider the finest baseball facility in the state, while players and coaches, whether they won or lost, will never forget the West Valley Super regional.
The facts are the Vikings eliminated Los Medanos 10-6 Thursday, fell to Folsom Lake 5-4 Friday, and then rocked Saratoga and the northern California baseball world with 7-6 and 18-17 victories over the Falcons Saturday to advance to the Regional Finals against Chabot May 17-19 at Valhalla. West Valley came from behind in all three wins in the double elimination tournament, and fell just short of another comeback in its Friday loss to FLC.
Los Medanos (32-11), the champions of the Bay Valley Conference, fell 6-1 in 10 innings to Big 8 champion Folsom Lake (30-16) in their opener. The Mustangs rode into Valhalla Friday facing elimination against WVC.
LMC led 4-2 after four and 6-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th. The Viking bats came alive from then on, as WVC added two runs in both the 7th and 8th to even it up at 6-6 and set up an epic 9th inning.
Viking reliever Lincoln Juarez set the Mustangs down in order in the top of the 9th with the heart of the WVC batting order due up in the home half of the inning. Alan Ramirez and Jayce Dobie drew back-to-back walks to open the inning and a Kai Laxa bunt single loaded the bases for Logan Stelling. Stelling took a 3-2 fastball over the right field fence for a walk-off grand slam, setting off a WVC infield celebration and ending the season for the Mustangs.
Juarez earned the win with a superb two innings of hitless relief. Stelling finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored, while Dylan Unangst slugged his 10th homer of the season, a solo shot in the 7th.
The Vikings and the Falcons opened Friday with what would prove to be game one of a best-of-three series. FLC, the designated home team, took a 5-1 lead into the eighth. A Karter Wong three-run homer made it 5-4, and the Vikings had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. The Falcons turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the WVC threat and the game.
Jake Jones took the loss for the Vikings. James Bose, Dobie, Stelling and Andrew Wilford each had two hits.
Folsom Lake now needed to win just one of the two Saturday games to end West Valley's 2024. Both games will forever be a part of Viking baseball lore.
The Falcons played like the birds of prey they are, taking a 3-0 lead after two. The score would remain the same until Stelling's RBI fielder's choice drove in Ryan Lordier in the 6th. FLC put three runs on the board in the top of the 7th for a 6-1 lead, but Stelling's 11th homer of the season, a three-run blast to center that knocked in Wong and Dobie, narrowed the Falcon lead to 6-4.
FLC loaded the bases with two down in the top of the 9th, but Juarez struck out a looking Logan Pruski to retire the side. The Vikings needed at least two runs in the bottom of the 9th to keep their season alive. They got three.
Bose was plunked to open the inning. He would advance to 3rd on a Lordier single to right and would scamper home on a Ramirez double to right. Dobie tied it at 6-6 with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Lordier. With Ramirez at 3rd, Wong sent a 1-2 pitch to a perfect spot between the mound and first base. Ramirez flew home with the winning run to set up a winner-take-all game with a spot in the regional finals at stake.
Every now and then, a "you can't make this stuff up" game is played. Game five of the West Valley Super Regionals is one of those games that will never be made into a movie because no one would believe it.
The temperature at Valhalla was in the low 90's and there wasn't a cloud in the sky or even the slightest of breezes blowing. That relative calm would soon be disrupted by a game for the ages.
The game was a stat-keeper's paradise or nightmare, depending on one's point of view and responsibility. The were 35 runs, 34 of which were earned, 33 hits, five home runs, seven doubles, a triple, 390 pitches, 20 walks and 15 strikeouts. Surprisingly, for a game where the ball was flying around, there was only one error.
Folsom Lake scored four in the top of the 1st, but West Valley countered with two in the inning on a Lordier two-run HR, and three in the 2nd on Wong's two-run single and a Gabriel Tapia run on a wild pitch. FLC evened it up at 5-5 with a run in the 3rd and then fell behind 7-5 on a Bose RBI single and a Ramirez triple to right-center that brought home Bose.
The Falcons struck for three runs on three hits in the 5th to reclaim the lead at 8-7, and the wheels would, temporarily, fall off the West Valley bus in the sixth. WVC left fielder Wong and shortstop Bose collided while chasing down a fly to short left, forcing Bose to leave the game. After a dispiriting 30-minute break while Athletic Trainer Katie Gerbino and the WVC coaching staff attended to Bose and Wong, a somber Viking squad surrendered nine runs to the Falcons and fell behind 17-7. Folsom Lake would not score again.
Dobie reached on an E6 to open the bottom of the 6th, and, after back-to-back free passes to Wong and Stelling, the bases were loaded with Vikings. Unangst doubled down the right field line to clear those bases and bring the Vikings to within 17-10. The Viking rally continued with Degan Davis doubling in Unangst and a two-run Tapia bomb over the right field fence. The score was now 17-13 and the momentum had tangibly shifted to the guys in orange and blue.
Viking pitching ruled the next two innings. WVC reliever Ahmed Brown surrendered a leadoff single to Quincy Malbrough, but Malbrough was picked off 1st on a perfect throw from catcher Davis to Unangst. A groundout to Lordier at 2nd and a fly out to Tapia in center ended the FLC 7th.
Grant Selig took over for Brown in the 8th and was untouchable, setting the Falcons down in order with two fly outs sandwiched around a Pruski K. One of the most memorable half innings in Viking history awaited in the home half of the 8th.
Unangst walked with one out, and both Davis and Tapia singled to right to load the bases for Laxa, who was in for Bose at short. Laxa took the first pitch for a strike and then fouled the second pitch back to the screen. The next pitch landed in the trees behind the right field fence for the equalizing grand slam. The Viking 8th didn't end there.
Ramirez sent a 1-1 pitch high over the Blue Monster in left for a solo homer for what would prove to be the winning run and capping one of the most memorable comebacks in West Valley and 3C2A Super Regional history. The Vikings had rallied from 17-7 down to take the lead at 18-17.
The Falcons mounted a rally in the top of the 9th, getting Adam Reyes to 3rd with two down. Selig was staring danger squarely in the eye as he fell behind Malbrough 3-1. Malbrough got under Selig's next offering and lofted a fly to right. Selig took three steps back and gloved the ball, allowing the Viking faithful to exhale and igniting a championship celebration in short right.
Tapia led the 16-hit, 17-RBI Viking offense with a 4-for-4, two-RBI, four-runs-scored afternoon. Bose, Davis, Dobie and Ramirez also had multi-hit outings. Selig earned the win with two innings of no-run, no-hit, two-strikeout relief.
The entire Super Regional is archived on the WVC Athletics YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb_SZRdylXUmeT8IK_GLfmQ
The best-of-three 3C2A Regional Finals between West Valley, the Coast-South champions, and Chabot (33-11), the Coast-North champions, begins Friday at Valhalla. First pitch is 2:00pm. Game two is Saturday at 1:00pm and game three, if necessary, is slated for Sunday at noon.
Tickets are available (credit/debit cards only) at the gate or through the WVC Athletics website:
