Patrick Mortensen steps out of his stance while pitching for Center in Friday' victory over John Mall.  Mortensen scored runners with his bat and struck out batters with his arm collecting 11 strike outs. (Courier photo by Stephen Jiron)

CENTER — Center’s Vikings hosted John Mall on Friday for a late season non-league game. The Vikings were up to the task on a beautiful day to play some ball. Center closed things out in the sixth inning by a score of 10-0. Center (8-9-0) is sitting with a 6-2 record in their District, unfortunately they are still below .500 on the season.  Starting with Sanford on April 14 the Vikings got the ball rolling picking up four straight wins three of which by ‘mercy rule’ and the fourth by forfeit. That streak ended with Buena Vista this past Tuesday.  

The Vikings started the fifth inning with a 5-0 lead.  After three straight throw outs at first in the top of the inning the Vikings were back at the plate. Center was led off by Marco Hernandez, who advanced to first on an uncaught third strike. Kevin Miramontes scored Hernandez on a triple to right field then got home when the attempt at third went out of play causing the umpire to award Miramontes home plate.  Three batters later and Patrick Mortensen would double down the third base line advancing Palacios to third and sending Tejay Kemery home.

Robbie Cortez was walked to load the bases  before Marcus Smith’s at bat. A mighty chop from Smith scored two and closed the fifth inning for Center with a 9-0 lead one run away from ending the day early.

After keeping John Mall off the board for another inning it was Center looking for the walk off run.  Miramontes began the hunt with a double. Ripper Fitz got a piece of a pitch to get Miramontes to third despite being thrown out at first.  Palacios’ short pop fly to center field fell harmlessly scoring Miramontes to give the Vikings their eighth win of the season. Center's Mortensen struck out 11 batters in an impressive showing off the mound.

Head coach Adam Welsh is hopeful after examining the future schedule. “If we can get above .500 we could have a decent shot to get into regionals just on RPI, we don’t have to win districts that way”. Looking forward Center faces Del Norte at 11 a.m. on April 28. After that it will be a home game against Monte Vista to close the season on May 5. The Pirates and Tigers combine for a 6-19 record.

In 2A it’s a 16-team playoff tournament with the 8 division leaders taking the first eight spots and the final 8 being decided by RPI. Currently Center sits at number 23 with a score of .485, the gatekeeper in the 16 spot is Swink who holds an index of .549. Welsh acknowledged Center's route to the post season saying, “But that’s hoping we get the other teams we’ve played to do their jobs too.”