At the very start of this game it was apparent that the Diablo Valley College Vikings were going to be in for a rough ride. Even though a late ninth inning comeback would end the game at 10-5 in favor of American River College.

The ARC Beavers came out bats swinging in this game.

There was nothing the DVC pitchers tossed their way which could get an out for the Vikings.

Through two innings the Beavers piled up a lead of 9-0, with the Vikings in need of a regroup. At the start of the third inning Coach Steve Ward decided to make a pitching change, which led to a lot more playable balls, giving the defense something to work with.

With DVC gaining momentum after putting together a nice string of defensive stops, the offense started to get rolling as well.

After a sacrifice fly ball and a grounder that turned into an error for the Beavers, DVC got on the board in the fourth inning with a score of 9-2.

In the sixth inning the ARC offense started to show up again after the Vikings gave up another run, and the score now ballooning to 10-2.

Once they got out of the inning, Coach Ward decided to go to his bullpen in hope for another spark for his club.

After back to back base hits and a wild pitch, the Vikings were in scoring position on second and third.

With another sacrifice fly, DVC scored another run cutting the lead to 10-3.

After a couple more pitching changes and some solid defense by the Vikings, including a nice double play, it looked like there was still a chance.

With their backs against the wall, Coach Ward knew his team needed to get something going in the ninth inning.

He got exactly what he was looking for. The Vikings came out with a purpose in the final frame, leading off with back to back hits to start the inning. A base hit brought another Viking home, but also gifted the Beavers a double play, giving the Vikings only one more out left until the game was over.

Once again, a base hit by the Vikings. Now 10-5, the crowd was starting to believe there was some hope that seemed all but lost by the third inning.

With a runner on second and crunch time setting in, DVC hit a grounder right to shortstop, ending the comeback bid by the Vikings at 10-5.

The game was by no means pretty, but the Vikings never stopped believing that they were out of it.

Falling to 7-16 on the season, it stills shows that this club has some fight in them to crawl out of this early hole.

The Viking’s next baseball game will be March 18th at 1pm at American River College.