Down 11-7 in the bottom of the seventh, the Symmes Valley Vikings rallied for a 12-11 win Monday over the St.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

Down 11-7 in the bottom of the seventh, the Symmes Valley Vikings rallied for a 12-11 win Monday over the St. Joe Flyers in the season opener for both teams.

"The kids did real well. They hung tough. We’re happy with the win, but we need some more work" Vikings coach Rusty Webb said. "In order to be a good team, you have to do the small things."

The winning rally began when Justin Myers had a lead off home run.

Roger Rossiter had a pinch-hit single and Adam Corn a ground rule double. A throwing error scored Rossiter, and Jeremy Copley had an RBI single.

"Justin’s home run gave us life, and Roger Rossiter’s hit got the rally going. And Jeremy Copley did an excellent job of baserunning to get the winning run," said Webb.

After a walk and two strikeouts, a passed ball scored one run and a throwing error on the play allowed the winning run to score.

"Until that point, we really hadn’t played too bad. That’s one we let slip through our fingers," Flyers coach Kevin Sheridan said. "Our pitchers pitched well enough and we had enough timely hits. We just faced some pretty good pitchers."

Jeff Ralph hit a solo home run in the first to put the Vikings up 1-0.

St. Joe got three in the third. Pat McGinnis singled, Danny Stack walked, Matt Frazer singled, Eric Waginger walked, and Bub Waginger had a single.

But the Vikings regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when Anthony Owens and Corn each slugged two-run homers to lead 5-3.

The Flyers had two runs in the fourth. Two walks, a sacrifice bunt by Danny Stack, and Frazer had a two-out, two-run single.

Each team scored twice in the fifth.

Charley Yaniko’s two-run single led the Flyers, but an error enabled the Vikings to score twice and make it 10-7.

St. Joe made it 11-7 in the top of the seventh when Eric Waginger singled, stole second, Bub Waginger was safe on a fielder’s choice, and a passed ball scored Eric Waginger.

That set the stage for the Vikings winning rally.

Myers struck out nine and four walks in four innings of work and Owens fanned three as he got the win. Frazer took the loss in relief.

St. Joe 003 223 1 – 11 10 3

Sym. Valley 104 020 5 – 12 10 2

Rusty Yaniko, Matt Frazer (5), Bub Waginger (7) and Pat McGinnis. Justin Myers, Anthony Owens (5) and Anthony Owens, Eric Holland. W-Owens. L-Frazer. 2B-SV: Jeremy Copley, Adam Corn. HR-SV: Jeff Ralph, Anthony Owens, Adam Corn, Justin Myers. Hitting-SJ: Matt Frazer 2-4, Rusty Yaniko 2-5; SV: Anthony Owens 2-3, Adam Corn 2-4 (4 RBI), Jeremy Copley 2-4.