The Valley Central baseball team poked its head above .500 on Wednesday afternoon when they struck early and often on their way to a 12-5 win over the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks at the Gidney Avenue Field in Newburgh.

The Vikings did all their damage in three innings as they took an early lead with three runs in the fourth inning and tacked on another four runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead, before the Goldbacks finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Chris Byrne led the Vikings with three hits, a run scored and an RBI, while John Scotto had a hit and two RBIs, with a run scored. William Treco had two hits, including a double, two runs scored and an RBI. John Wentink doubled and drove in two runs.

Danny Bello got the win on the mound for the Vikings, allowing four hits in four innings, and two runs. He walked six and struck out four batters. Wentink finished the game with three innings of relief, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts.

The Vikings jumped on Newburgh starting pitcher Tyler Voltaire when Byrne led off the game with a base hit but was caught stealing with Scotto at the plate. However, Scotto walked and came round to score on Treco’s double to left field and then two runs scored when Trevor Mitchetti’s reached on an error by Newburgh center fielder Nick Schmidt.

The Vikings tacked on three more in the fourth when Colin Quinn walked and then Freeman singled. Wentink followed by driving home Quinn with a single to right field.

A change in the pitcher didn’t result in a change in the outcome as Newburgh coach Scott Seabury replaced Voltaire with Chase Rounds, who promptly gave up an RBI single to Byrnes. Scotto followed with a two-run single to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

The Goldbacks finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tyler Martin’s double drove in Mason Hoover.

Valley Central coach Robert Leonard then brought Wentink into pitch, who gave up an RBI groundout to Schmidt, before escaping the inning with no further damage.

The Vikings loaded the bases to start the sixth inning and Jalen Collins balked Bello home, and Treco scored when Colin Quinn reached on an error. Andre Rick singled home Mitchetti and Quinn scored on the throw when Rick advanced to second base. Rick scored on Wentink’s double.

The Goldbacks staved off the 10-run rule in the bottom of the sixth inning when D.J. Clifford scored on an error by Bello at third base. The Goldbacks added two more in the bottom of the seventh on sacrifice flies by D.J. Paron and Mason Hoover.

The Vikings finished the week with a 4-1 win over the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Friday behind a six-strikeout performance by Jason Murphy. Chris Byrne had two hits and two RBIs, and Colin Quinn had a sacrifice fly.