Vikings Walk Off Game One Thriller, Split Doubleheader Against Wenatchee Valley

After a tough pair of losses to Blue Mountain CC, Big Bend Community College came into Wednesday's doubleheader against Wenatchee Valley CC with a point to prove—and in Game One, they did just that in dramatic fashion.

Sophomore ace Garin Gurtler took the mound for the Vikings, looking to continue his strong season. Gurtler opened with a scoreless first, but the Knights chipped away early, scoring two runs in the second, two more in the third, and another in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. The Vikings, who jumped out with four runs in the opening frame, went quiet until the fifth inning when they managed to tie the game at five apiece.

Gurtler exited after six solid innings, handing the ball to freshman Garrison Garton. Garton was rock steady, tossing two scoreless frames to keep the game locked heading into the ninth.

With the score still tied 5-5, closer Nolan Soderstrom took over and delivered a clutch shutout inning, setting the stage for a potential walk-off—and the Vikes delivered.

JT Penrod led off the bottom of the ninth with a single before pinch-hitter Joseph Valenzuela laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move Penrod into scoring position. After a gritty walk from Sean Bang, Oak Held nearly ended it but flew out deep to left field. That brought up Blaine Macdonald, who wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch and lacing it into the left-center gap to drive in Penrod for the thrilling 6-5 walk-off win.

The Viking bats collected nine hits in the opener, with Penrod, Held, Roman Basurto, and Rylan Osbjornsen each notching two hits. Macdonald's clutch swing, however, was the difference-maker.

Game Two, however, told a different story.

BBCC ran into a strong pitching performance from the Knights and couldn't get much going offensively. They were held hitless until the seventh inning when Penrod blasted his first collegiate home run to cut into a 4-0 deficit. The Vikes would add just one more hit in the final frame but couldn't mount a comeback, ultimately falling 4-1 to split the doubleheader.

The Vikings now 1-1 in the series will look to bounce back and win the series as they head to Wenatchee Valley College for the final two games of the four-game set on Saturday, April 12.