Paly varsity baseball started off its’ season on a good note today with a 5-1 win over Evergreen Valley High School.

The Vikings began the first inning strong against the Cougars, with solid pitching from Ben Sneider (‘12).  Sneider finished the first two innings with two hits, no runs, one strikeout and no walks.

“Our pitchers did really well which was good to see,” Jack Witte (’12).  “If they can keep it up [the season] will be pretty good.”

The offense also started early for the Vikings with a double from B.J. Boyd (’12), who then stole third.  Witte grounded out, but Austin Braff (’12) got on base after getting pegged, Braff then stole second.

Clean-up hitter, John Dickerson (’12) hit a double to bring in Boyd and Braff scoring the first runs of the game. Isaac Feldstein (’13) also hit a double to bring in Dickerson.

The inning ended with Paly up 3-0 after Christian Lonsky (’12) got walked and Clay Carey (’12) and Michael Strong (’13) both grounded out.

The Vikings stayed dominant in the second inning, holding Evergreen to zero runs, while adding a run of their own.  Boyd hit a triple and was then brought in by Witte to put the score at 3-0 Vikes.

The remaining innings were a series of defensive battles. At the top of the fourth with Paly’s Arun Varma pitching, the Vikings had some trouble picking up the Cougar’s hits. With bases loaded, Evergreen Paly hit a single. Although it looked like a double play would be completed at first and second to end the inning, the player at first was called safe. Evergreen score

Looking forward, the Vikings will face Campolindo, a tough match-up on Saturday.

“We just have to be prepared and have tough at bats and we have to have more energy than we did today,” Witte said.