Baseball: Vikings upset Tigers in Game 2 of doubleheader

It was comparable to UC Davis beating Stanford in basketball, or Fresno State knocking off USC in football.

South Tahoe High doesn't often defeat Douglas on the baseball diamond. But the Vikings found the precise formula to execute the feat in the second game of a Sierra League doubleheader on Saturday at Todd Fields.

Sophomore pitcher Max DeLallo pitched a complete-game eight-hitter, and South Tahoe parlayed six hits into an eight-run third inning to upset the Tigers 13-6.

"If we can play like this against every team, we can beat any team we play. This was an 'A' game," DeLallo said.

The loss was only the Tigers' third in 15 league games. It was Douglas coach John Glover's first loss against Tahoe in his six seasons at the helm.

Douglas carried the series, however, with a win Thursday and a 15-5 win in the morning game, which clinched a spot in the playoffs for the Tigers.

The loss doesn't complicate the league title picture, as the Tigers' magic number to clinch is five wins. The Tigers got some help from Damonte over the weekend as the Mustangs took a game from Reno to put Douglas just one game back from the Huskies.

Douglas must sweep against Hug and win the series against Reno to claim the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs.

On Saturday, DeLallo stranded eight Douglas baserunners over the final four innings.

"He's phenomenal for a sophomore. He's by far the best pitcher I've seen in our league," said Douglas coach John Glover, whose team hasn't yet played the Reno Huskies. "He threw a good game against us."

DeLallo said he relied on his fastball in the late going since the Tigers had trouble hitting it. His heater probably topped out in the mid-80s, Tillson said.

"Once we approached the fifth inning and we were up, I was like I have to finish this now," said DeLallo, who fanned seven and walked four. "The last few innings I was feeling fatigued, but I just had to keep throwing my strikes, and the defense backed me up a lot."

In pivotal third inning, the Vikings sent 12 hitters to the plate; seven of the runs scored after two were out. Kyle DiGrande roped a two-run triple and Matt Marsh smashed a two-run double to highlight the uprising. Gary Prescott, Jason Winslow and DeLallo stroked RBI doubles, and Otto Trebotich hit a RBI single as the Vikings turned a 3-0 deficit into an 8-3 lead.

After the Tigers closed to within 8-5 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, the Vikings delivered the knockout punch. Otto and Ivan Trebotich each hit two-run singles in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 12-5. The Vikings closed out the scoring in the sixth when DiGrande was balked home.

"It feels great. It's what we wanted. We got out of our losing slump and hopefully we'll stay on top," said Vikings' sophomore leadoff hitter Otto Trebotich, who hit 5 for 9 in the two games. "The whole team wanted to play and we all wanted this win."

Otto Trebotich led the Vikings three hits, and DeLallo and Winslow each contributed two.

Douglas won the opener in six innings, sending the Vikings to their 12th straight defeat.

The Vikings took a 3-2 lead after two innings in the first game, but Douglas scored four times in the third and seven in the fourth to take control.

Troy Torres connected for a two-run single to highlight the Tigers' four-run third, and Tanner Thomas' two-run homer keyed the seven-run eruption.

Douglas' Tyler Hoelzen pitched a complete-game six-hitter for the Tigers.

Jordan Hadlock hit Joel Morris' first pitch for a home run well over the left-field fence.

Rudnick was 2 for 3, two runs and two walks; Hoelzen was 2-4, including a double, with three runs scored; Kameron VanWinkle 2-4 with two runs; and Torres 2-4 with a run and three RBI. In game two, Torres was 2 for 4 with a run and two RBI and Hadlock, VanWinkle and Hoelzen each reached base three times.