An opening round loss did little to deter Lago Vista Viking baseball as it rolled off three consecutive victories over Lehman, Killeen and Lampasas en route to a third place finish this past weekend in the Lampasas Invitational Baseball Tournament.
Lago drew the Rouse Raiders in the opening game in the pool play and quickly found out this opponent could be the team to beat for first place. The Raiders were the first to strike as they plated one runner off two base hits and a walk to take the 1-0 lead. The score remained until the Raiders plated another run in the fourth.
The score remained the same until the top of the seventh when C.J. Jacque connected on a 2-2 fastball and drove it deep to center for a double that plated its first run of the game and broke up the no-hitter being thrown by Rouse’s pitching staff. The Vikings managed just one more in the final frame and the game ended with a 2-1 defeat.
“Their starting pitcher was on his game. He was throwing the ball hard and accurate,” coach B.J. Hill said. “Our batters were just unable to catch up with him and it cost us the game. Two hits generally won’t translate into a win for any opponent.”
The Vikings rode the pitching of Scott Goins who earned his first victory of the season and the offense of Shane Young and Alex Kelso for a 6-1 victory over the Lehman Lobos and the right to advance to the next round.
Young hit a two-run RBI double in the first that gave the Vikings a quick 2-0 lead. Kelso added two bunt singles in the third and fifth and advanced home on RBI singles by Jacque and Dakota Haines to give the Vikings a 5-1 lead after five innings. The Vikings added an insurance run in the sixth to close out the Lobos.
With the win, Lago earned the right to move on and face Killeen for the opportunity to move into the consolation game. A three-run home run by Brady Crenwelge in the first helped stake the Vikings to a 5-0 lead on route to a 12-2 throttling of the Kangaroos.
Lago added two runs in the third and fifth innings before Killeen managed to plate its first base runner of the evening. Three more runs in the sixth off the bats of Dylan Haines and Trey Wilson gave the Vikings the 10-run victory. Wilson pitched five solid innings to earn his first win of the season.
“Our offense was really clicking after these two games. We did what we were supposed to do,” Hill said. “I was pleased at the pitching performances turned in by Scott and Trey. They held the hitters at bay and gave our batters an opportunity to put up runs.”
The consolation game for third place came down to Lago Vista squaring off against the Lampasas team. The Vikings pounded the Badger pitching staff for 15 hits and 17 runs as it went on to a 17-4 win.
Lago once again jumped out to an early 7-2 lead after one inning of play. The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth before putting the game out of reach in the fifth when Dylan Ross came off the bench and connected for a three-run home run to effectively end the game. The Kangaroos added just two more runs in the final two innings and end any chance of a comeback.
Dakota Haines went 3-4 in the game with three RBIs to pace the offense.
“Winning three games in the tournament and improving our doubling the win total from last year is a big boost for our team. We are working on putting everything together and showing teams that we can compete with anyone,” Hill said.
Hill said he has seen the growth and maturity of his team improve over the past three weeks and it gives him hope the intensity within his team is great enough to challenge what will be a formidable district 25-2A schedule.
“Our district is one of the toughest in the region. We have the ability to compete with everyone in our conference and challenge for a playoff spot,” Hill said. “We just need to execute our style of play and keep improving on what makes us successful.”
The Vikings improved its season record to 5-2 as the non-conference schedule comes to a close and district play begins. The Vikings will be at home on Tuesday to face state-ranked Rogers.

—Clint Barnes, Correspondent