By Ed Piper
La Jolla's storybook season second half and surge into the playoffs--like a Viking surfer walking down two blocks from campus to ride a cresting wave at Marine Avenue--temporarily sustained itself in a four-run top of the first inning in the CIF Finals at UCSD Thursday, May 29.
But the whole wave, foam and all, came crashing into shore on a rocky seven-run response by the Lincoln Hornets in the bottom of that inning. It ended with a shortened game, called in the fifth inning with no outs, on the 10-run rule, 17-7, as Coach Olivia Hanke's Hornets pounded yet three more hits sandwiched around two Viking errors.
The surprising 2025 season was history, but what a run it had been: a 6-3 Central League record, followed by three wins in the Division 5 playoffs leading into Thursday's game.
Jacey Taylor, Nat Vasquez, and the Vikes stood at 3-10 before league play back on March 25, after a 11-0 blowout loss at Escondido. They finished with a 12-14 season record, not .500 but remarkable in the team's transformation the next two months. The squad jelled, to use a term.
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