The Vikings went into extra innings to beat the Castilleja Gators 5-4 on Wednesday, March 23. This game marks the second win of the season for Paly, with a record of 2-8.

The game started out slow, with no runs scored in the first and second inning. However Castilleja came into the third inning strong, scoring two runs to lead the game 2-0. Viking had no answer in the bottom of the third, but held Castilleja to no runs in the fourth inning.

In the top of the fifth, the Gators extended its lead over the Vikings by scoring another run, leading 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth. The Vikings came back, though, with a score by Fabiana Teofan (‘19) off a hit by Dhesya Salsabila Swezey (‘18). This was closely followed by a score from Salsabila Swezey off a base hit up the middle by Maggie Renteria (‘17) and another score by Jesse Kim (‘16).

Both teams were tied 3-3 going into the sixth and seventh inning, which meant the teams had to play extra innings. The Gators started the eighth inning strong, earning one run. This brought the score to 4-3 in Castilleja’s favor. However, Sophie Frick (‘17) was able to steal home for the Vikings to keep them in the game, allowing them to keep playing into the ninth inning.

“[That run felt] very nice especially because [Castilleja] is my old school so I know the coach and all the players so it was very good,” Frick said. “It felt really nice to get that.”

In the ninth inning, Castilleja couldn’t get a single run, and the score was tied 4-4 at the beginning of the bottom of the ninth inning. Samantha McBride (‘18) bunted to set Salsabila Swezey up at third, where she was able to steal for home. The Vikings beat the Gators in extra innings 5-4 on March 23.

“This win impacts the rest of the season because it totally built our confidence, which I think is our biggest problem that we have in the preseason is our confidence level,” Coach Brooke Binkey said. “Especially going into playing Gunn tomorrow.”

The Vikings play Gunn on Wednesday, March 24.