13-3 Viking Lead Vanishes in 14-13 Loss to Dons

Hunter Schilperoort
Hunter Schilperoort

West Valley baseball's 13-3 seventh-inning lead morphed into an improbable 14-13 loss to rival De Anza at Valhalla Saturday. After the Vikings (13-9, 2-3 Coast-Golden Gate) sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run top of the seventh, the Dons (11-11, 2-4) answered with a nine-run, 12-batter seventh of their own. West Valley built a 7-0 lead through four on Hunter Schilperoort's three-run double and Robert Zamora's RBI single. The teams, playing in a steady downpour, combined for 15 runs, eight hits, five walks, three errors, two hit batters, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a grand slam in an hour-long seventh inning. The scoring got started when Viking SS Troy Gilmore slapped a triple to right and came home on RF Anthony Gaskins' throwing error. Jake Pao earned a two-out walk and scored on Schilperoort's single. Robert Zamora then ripped a two-run single up the middle, scoring Schilperoort and Nate Petrov. Gilmore closed out the scoring with a single that brought home Zamora. Ricky Desa's one-out grand slam highlighted De Anza's nine-run outburst in the home half of the seventh that cut West Valley's lead to 13-12. The Dons picked up the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth on Casey Anderson's SAC fly and Desa's bases-loaded walk that brought home Andrew Cone. Zamora was huge at the plate, going 5-6 with three RBI, and Schilperoort finished 2-6 with five RBI and three runs scored. Matt Remmel took the loss in relief and Lane Maxwell, the eighth De Anza pitcher, got the win. The Vikings host Chabot (10-12, 4-2) Tuesday (3/20) in a crucial Coast-GG contest.