The Valley Central baseball team had dropped two straight before breaking out the bats a big way in a 17-1, 5-inning victory over the James I. O’Neill Raiders.

The Vikings scored in every inning in a game that culminated in a nine-run fourth inning before Cameron Stevens finished the game off by throwing two innings in relief of starting pitcher Joshua Miller.

Miller went the first three innings, facing one batter over the minimum, a walk to O’Neill’s Grant Lemler in the second inning. He finished with four strikeouts. He walked Jackson Waugh to start the game, but he was picked off at second base with Tyler Daugherty at the plate.

Meanwhile, the Vikings picked apart O’Neill pitching by scoring 8 runs against Waugh in 2 2/3 innings. Lemler relieved him with two outs in the third, escaped further trouble, but then gave up nine runs in the fourth inning, as the Vikings forced the game to end in the middle of the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule.

Miller delivered a two-run double in the first inning to get the Vikings on the board. He also drove in two runs in the second inning with a single. He also scored a first-inning run on a wild pitch. Colin Edwards also delivered an RBI single in the second inning.

The Vikings scored third-inning run when Michael DiTullio reached on an error in front of Dariel Ducasse’s run-scoring double.

After Lemler got the Raiders out of trouble in the third inning, the Vikings erupted in the fourth, as Colin Edwards, DiTullio had run-scoring base hits. Dylan Nixon drove in two with a base hit. Sebastian Rockwell also singled home a run.

The previous day, the Vikings suffered a 6-3 loss to the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks as DiTullio struggled, giving up two home runs to Jaden Caballero, who drove in five runs. Anthony Manzi also homered.
John Scotto singled twice in the Vikings’ loss.
Valley Central finished the week, facing the Warwick Wildcats, splitting a doubleheader.

The Vikings took the first game, 8-0 behind Miller’s three-hitter. Andrew Bonilla doubled twice and Cam Stevens doubled. Ducasse added two runs and a single.

The Vikings lost the second game, 12-7. DiTullio singled three times, Ducasse singled and homered and had Miller had two hits.