Strong start for Vikings baseball
MOSES LAKE - It could be a good omen or just nature's recent good mood but this past weekend the sun shone down on the Big Bend Vikings baseball team.
Opening their season against Thompson Rivers College of Kamloops, B.C., the Vikings played back-to-back doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at Larson Field and came away with a 3-1 start to the campaign.
On Friday, the Vikings won the opener 11-2 before dropping the nightcap 3-2. They then sweep both games on Saturday, recording 11-5 and 7-1 victories.
"I was very pleased with the way our team competed for the first games of the year," Big Bend head coach Don Lindgren said. "Our team speed really caused trouble for Thompson Rivers."
Rico Moreno and Bryce Todd sparked the middle of the lineup for the Vikings according to Lindgren while Brett Gray, Jake Faulk, Bryan Karwacki and Jose Nossa, "really swung the bat well."
On Friday, Cody Bunner won the opener after pitching seven innings and striking out four. The Vikings pitchers scattered eight hits and took advantage of six Thompson Rivers' errors.
Big Bend scored five runs in the third and four more in the eighth to cruise to the win.
In the loss that same day, Big Bend struggled to get on base, recording only three hits, wasting an early 2-0 lead before falling on a late Thompson Rivers rally in the ninth.
On that first day, 12 of Big Bend's 13 hits were singles.
The following day, the Vikings' bats got going and the opening 11-5 win was the most offensively impressive of the weekend.
A total of 15 hits were recorded including five doubles and a triple.
Gray went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a triple, Faulk finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a double, Nossa eneded up 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Brandon Vannoy completed a 2-for-4 performance with a double and two RBI.
Todd also had a big game, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, while Moses Lake High School alum Moreno ended up 2-fo-5 with 2 RBI.
Nathan Regal earned the win with five innings pitched.
Later that day, Big Bend broke up a close 2-1 game with five runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings to win the weekend series.
Danny Greenway struck out eight batters in six innings to earn the win for Big Bend.
Tyler Morris went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Karwacki went 1-for-2 with thee RBI and a double, Matt Benner went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a double and Randy Button also doubled while knocking home an RBI.
Geoff Davis struck out five Thompson Rivers batters in relief.
"The best surprise was the way our pitchers threw and how well our defense played," Lindgren said. "Our four starters threw the ball extremely well. Randy Button, Cody Brunner, Nate Regal and Danny Greenway really set the tempo in each game. Geoff Davis and Brian Sweeney were also great in relief. I hope we can continue to improve each week as this team has some great players."