The Vikings continued their hot start to the season as they headed to the University of Central Oklahoma to take part in the Spring JUCO Festival last Tuesday, Feb. 10 and Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Game one
The Vikings took on No. 24 Hutchinson Community College to open tournament play. Grayson battled back from down 5-1 to tie the game in the seventh inning, but Hutch grabbed the win in extra innings.
The Vikings took the early lead in the first. Rhys Vindiola reached on an error, scoring David Hogg II, who worked the two out walk earlier in the inning.
Hutchinson added a pair of runs in the third inning. Finn Hochstein and Austin Crawford led off the inning reaching on errors. Hochstein scored on a passed ball, Crawford stole second and scored on a double by Max Flowers. Flowers would later score on a groundout by Anthony Mazza to put the Vikings in a 3-1 deficit.
An RBI single from Alex Crawford put Hutchinson up 4-1 in the fourth and an RBI single from Cru Huenfeld in the fifth inning made it a 5-1 deficit in the fifth.
The Vikings tacked on two runs in the sixth inning. Hogg II drew a walk. Two batters later, Vindiola doubled, allowing Hogg II to score on an error and Vindiola moving up to third. A groundout by Colton Roquemore cut the deficit to 5-3.
In the seventh inning, JT Cienega and Blake Lewis led off with singles. Two batters later, Hogg II tied the game with a two run double.
Hutch scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Jordan Kuhnau led off with a single and Jackson Schanuel drew a walk. Diesel Purnell's single to center made it a 6-5 game.
Offensively, Hogg II had a pair of hits and drove in two runs.
On the mound, Owen Ewton started, giving up three hits, four runs (one earned), walked one and struck out two over four innings pitched. Brendan Kopp threw an inning out of the bullpen, striking out three and giving up just one run. Cole Ramey threw two scoreless innings and Trevor Tranberg gave up just one earned run over an inning of work.
Game two
The Vikings bounced back with an 18-5 victory over Coffeyville in game two on Tuesday.
The game was scoreless for the first three innings, until Grayson broke it open with eight runs in the fourth inning. Roquemore and JT Cienega both hit one out singles. The Vikings executed a double steal, with Cienega swiping home for a 1-0 lead. Hogg II and Blake Lewis both drew walks to extend the lead to 2-0. A two run single from Isaac Rios made it a 4-0 game. Vindiola drew a walk to load the bases and Reese Ogden was hit by a pitch to make it 5-0. A Caleb Watkins sac fly made it 6-0 and Cienega capped the inning with a two run double.
The Vikings quickly loaded the bases again in the fifth inning getting a single from Lewis and walks by Hogg II and Rios. Vindiola worked a walk for a 9-0 lead and two batters later, Watkins cleared the bases with a three run double and a 12-0 lead. Later in the inning, Roquemore drove in a run with an RBI single scoring Watkins.
Coffeyville loaded the bases and scored five runs in their half of the fifth inning capped off by a bases clearing triple.
In the Grayson sixth, Vindiola grounded into a fielder's choice to extend the lead to 14-5.
In the seventh inning, Cienega led off with a single, Roquemore followed with a single and Easton Paxton loaded the bases with nobody out, working the walk. Lewis drove in a pair with a double, Hogg II plated a run with an RBI single and later in the inning, Lewis would score on a passed ball for run number 18.
Offensively, Cienega, Roquemore and Lewis all had three hit days. Watkins added two hits and four RBI. Lewis, Cienega, Hogg II, Rios and Vindiola all drove in a pair.
On the mound, Grant Origer threw four innings, giving up just two hits and striking out seven.
Murphy Page threw 2.1 no hit innings, striking out five.
Game three
The Vikings closed out tournament play with a dominant 8-0 victory over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College on Wednesday.
The Vikings got on the scoreboard in the first inning. Lewis led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a flyout by Wakins for a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Paxton, Lewis and David Hogg II led off with walks to load the bases with nobody out. Two batters later, Jack Casteel scored one on a fielder's choice while Vindiola drove in a run with a single to extend the lead to 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Roquemore's RBI single scored Watkins, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning to make it a 4-0 Viking lead.
In the sixth inning, Lewis hit a line drive single, Hogg II followed with a single and Watkins walked to load the bases. Sac fly's from Casteel and Vindiola padded the lead at 6-0.
In the seventh inning, Cienega led off with a single, Reese Ogden followed with a single to put runners on first and second. A groundout by Paxton advanced both runners 90 feet. Lewis scored one on a sac fly and Hogg II followed with an RBI triple for the eighth and final run.
Offensively, Lewis and Hogg II each had two hits and drove in a run each. Watkins and Casteel each drove in a run, while Vindiola drove in a pair.
On the mound, four pitchers combined on a three hit shutout. Jack Sharp started the game, giving up one hit and striking out five over three innings. Zach Applegate threw two innings and gave up one hit and struck out six. Kai Parker struck out the side in the sixth and Coleman Allison tossed a shutout seventh inning.
After tournament play, the Vikings record stands at 4-1. They will travel to No. 2 Blinn to take on the Buccaneers in a three game series beginning Tuesday, Feb. 17.
