LJ baseball 3, Mission Bay 2 - 1st of 3-game series

Willy Barton lays down a sacrifice bunt

in the bottom of the fourth inning as

Buc starter Demarco Lucero (far left)

throws him out, to move Ryan Lancaster

to second base. Beau Brown then drove in

Lancaster for the Vikings' second run.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Behind Gavin Graff's pitching and the offense plating runs in the third and fourth innings, La Jolla surged to a 3-2 win over visiting Mission Bay Mon., May 24 in probably the Vikings' most important game of the season so far.

Graff, the staff ace, held the Buccaneers (6-1 Eastern League) to two hits in the first five innings. Meanwhile, "Double Duty" Gavin (as star Ted Radcliffe from the Negro Leagues was dubbed) drove in Connor Hobbs with a single in the bottom of the third as La Jolla broke into the scoring column.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Beau Brown likewise moved speedy Ryan Lancaster around to score with a hard single past third to make the lead 2-0. Lancaster, the diminutive lefty centerfielder, had gotten aboard on a bunt and error by Mission Bay catcher 

The Vikings held on for a thrilling one-run win, as they went face-to-face with another competitive team in the up-down Eastern League and landed the first blow in a three-game home-away-home set this week. (High Tech High and San Diego are down; Christian is on top, with La Jolla and Mission Bay right next to them.)