A young team of Vikings has found its groove with a 4-3 win against the Mission College Saints.

“We are a young team, and we only have two sophomores,” right-fielder Jake Villa said. He said this is the main difference between last year’s and this year’s team.

The Vikings and Saints took the field on a warm 70 degree day at Diablo Valley College, ready to play ball.

“We need a lot of energy and play with a lot of effort,” second baseman Michael Brdar said before the game.

The effort took time to show, as the game started out with the Viking’s down 2-0 in the second inning. Mission scored single runs in the first and second innings.

Vikings starting pitcher Greg Campbell pitched his way out of many jams and kept the Vikings close, giving up only two earned runs.

The Vikings came back in the bottom of the second. With a fielding error and a throwing error by Mission that allowed Viking third-baseman Hudson Bishop to score.

In the top of third, DVC decided to switch to left-handed pitcher Doug Nimura. Nimura was dealing, as he had two strikeouts with his off-speed pitch.

A great double play by Michael Brdar to end the top of the eighth inning helped swing the game in the Vikings’ favor. The double play helped save a run and kept the lead.

First baseman Leo Costa started the inning off with a double. This was the second double of the game for Costa.

A past ball moved Costa to third where he scored on the next play as the Mission first baseman dropped a hard line drive. DVC took the lead 4-2 going into the top of the ninth.

Eric Crispell received the save, as he allowed only one run after getting into trouble with runners on second and third.

The Vikings left eight men on base, but still came out with the slim win of 4-3.

Head coach Steve Ward said after the win, “Games like this might be fun for the fans, but as a coach its nerve-racking.”