Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Vikings looking for repeat finish in Coast Conference
By Dick Sparrer
It's tough to match a season like the West Valley College baseball team had last year, when the Vikings ran up a 38-10 record and won a Coast Conference championship.
But while it may be a tough record to match, it appears that's just what the Vikes are trying to do and they near the halfway point in the 2007 campaign.
West Valley won two of three games last week--beating Hartnell 9-1 and the College of San Mateo 7-2 and losing 10-5 to Ohlone--to improve to 16-5-1 for the year and to 6-2 in the conference. And veteran head coach Mike Perez is pretty optimistic that the Vikes have what it takes to repeat.
"We have very good pitching and good athletes across the board," he said. "If we play consistent catch and continue to get better at the plate, we will have a legitimate chance of playing at a high level."
"There is no question that pitching is the strength of this year's club," added the coach. "We have a solid catcher behind the plate in Chase Perez and good athletes in the middle of our field [shortstop Doug Porras, second baseman Nick Bertolucci and center fielder Jason Codiroli]."
Perez (Live Oak) is a sophomore returner at catcher for the Vikings. He handles a solid pitching staff that includes sophomore southpaws Carlos Hernandez (Santa Clara), David Berner (Santa Clara) and David Masinter (Live Oak), freshman left-handers Codiroli (Mitty) and Tyler Derby (Leigh) and right-hander Danny Dyer (Leland).
Hernandez won all-conference and all-Northern California honors last spring after posting a 12-1 record and a 1.94 earned run average for the Vikes. Berner (8-4, 2.59) won an all-conference second team spot, and Masinter (3-1, 1.57) was a top contributor.
Adam Lara (Leland) and Brian Wendt (Leigh) are all-conference second team returners on the infield and Ben Hemeon (Gilroy) won all-conference second team honors in the outfield last year.
Porras (Live Oak) is a sophomore returner at shortstop for the Vikings and joins Bertolucci (Monta Vista) as a key player in the middle of the infield.
Codiroli is the club's starting center fielder in his first year as a Viking. Derby doubles as an outfielder for the Vikes, and Dyer will see time on the infield. Ryan Tregoning (Leigh) is another top freshman prospect on the infield.
Codiroli was Berner's best friend last weekend. The former Central Coast Section Player of the Year from Mitty blasted five hits, including a pair of doubles, and knocked in a pair of runs to help Berner nail a mound win in a 9-1 victory over Hartnell.
Of course, Berner wasn't bad, either. The sophomore lefty went the distance to flip a 5-hitter, striking out six along the way.
Derby and Hemeon belted three hits apiece in the win, and Lara singled and doubled to drive in three runs. Porras blasted a home run and a single, and Wendt had two hits to knock in two runs.
Two days earlier, it was Hernandez getting the win with seven solid innings of work in a 7-2 triumph over San Mateo. The West Valley ace struck out six in his stint, and pushed his mound record to 5-0. Berner came on to pick up his first save of the year.
Dyer slapped four singles to lead an 8-hit attack for the Vikes and Porras singled and doubled to knock in three runs. Perez also doubled in the win.
The Vikings had opened the week with a tough 10-5 loss to Ohlone. Codiroli homered and singled to drive in two runs and Dyer had two hits.
West Valley faces a tough test on March 20, hosting a Chabot club that Perez figures to be a top contender in the Coast Conference-South this spring. The Gladiators are 7-1 in the conference and 14-6 for the year after suffering a 13-7 loss to San Mateo on Saturday. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
The Vikes will then meet a couple of local rivals when they face San Jose City College on March 22, 6 p.m., at San Jose PAL Stadium, and visit De Anza on March 24, noon.
