VIKING JV PACED BY HUGE THIRD INNING
By Marc Atwood
marcatwood@aol.com

(3/27/07 Chico, CA) The Pleasant Valley junior varsity baseball team used an 11-run third inning to take a 13-5 win over Chico Tuesday on the Vikings' home field.

The Panthers got the first runs of the game in the top of the first inning when Tyler Clark reached first base on an error that allowed Jordan Kenoyer and Steven Koehnen to come home. Pleasant Valley failed to score in their half of the first as Sean Ryan hit into a double play in which Riley Cox was tagged out at home plate and Jordan Schwarz was left stranded.

The Vikings were able to get a run in the bottom of the second inning when Casey Hughes hit a single that brought in Luke Barker. They were unable to tie the score as Sean Berry was tagged out at the plate after Barker came home. Chico lost a chance to extend its lead in the top of the third inning when a groundout by Kevin Loustale left Koehnen stranded at second base.

Pleasant Valley began its explosion in the bottom of the third when Ryan's single to left field drove in Schwarz. Ryan came in on a double by John Darms, while a throwing error on the same play allowed Danny Evans to score and extend the Vikings' lead to 4-2. Darms was brought home on a single by Berry, while Barker scored on a throwing error during Joey Ruth's at bat.

Berry was sent home on a double by Ruth to give PV a 7-2 lead. Ruth scored on a groundout by Cox. A grand slam home run by Evans allowed Hughes, Schwarz, and Ryan to come home and put the Vikings up by 10 runs. The Panthers responded with three runs in the top of the fourth inning starting with Clark scoring on a groundout by Jack Foerster.

Chico continued its fourth inning scoring run when Kyle Quackenbush came home on a single to right filed by Kenoyer. Kurt Laver reached first base on an error that allowed Karl Gabski to score. The Panthers' inning came to an end on a double play by Keith Andrew in which Kenoyer was tagged out at the plate. The Vikings added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ryan hit a groundout that allowed Brandon Freeman to score.

Schwarz went 2-for-2 for Pleasant Valley with two singles, a walk, and scored twice. Darms was 2-for-3 with a single, a double, a walk, an RBI, and scored once. Koehnen went 2-for-3 for Chico with a pair of singles and scored once. Kenoyer was 1-for-2 with a single, a walk, an RBI, and scored once.