The Latta Vikings opened the Class A State Baseball Series with a 5-3 win over defending champion St. Joseph’s Catholic on Monday night in Latta.

St. Joseph’s scored first in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Latta pitcher Travis Power walked three batters in a row to load the bases and walked Jack Twomey to allow the Knights to score. The next batter flew out to end the inning with St. Joseph’s up 1-0. With one out in the bottom of the first, Latta loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and walks, but the next batter struck out and Buck Terry hit a grounder to second for the third out to leave three runners on base.

The Knights flew out twice and bunted to the pitcher in the top of the second,but the Vikings managed to score all five of their runs in the bottom of the inning. Lenneau Berry reached base by a walk, and Jeremy Jenkins made a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second. Christian Hendrix hit a grounder to the shortstop for the second out but Berry managed to advance to third on the play. St. Joseph’s pitcher Nick Leonard walked Josh Bowen and Power to load the bases. Jackson Williams was next up to bat, hitting one to center to bring in all three runners and end up on third.

With two outs and the Vikings ahead 3-1, Latta’s Donell Stanley hit one to center to bring in Williams and advanced to second on a missed ball. John Kever Love followed at bat, hitting one to shortstop Alex Malsch to allow Stanley to score from second on another missed ball. With a 5-1 Viking lead, the next batter struck out to end the inning.

St. Joseph’s responded in the top of the third with Sterling Turmon hitting a triple and David Marable hitting one to center for a RBI. Marable advanced to second on a bad throw, and Nick Leonard hit one to the left to score him to leave the Knights trailing 5-3. Twomey hit one to center to advance the runner, but John Hawkins fouled for the second out and Sean McDermott hit a grounder to first for an unassisted out to end the inning.

Latta’s Hendrix hit a single in the bottom of the third to reach base, but Jenkins struck out and Berry and Bowen each flew out to end the inning. The Vikings brought in Hendrix to pitch in the top of the fourth, and St. Joseph’s Ryan Stamler hit a grounder to third for the first out and Malsch hit one to the left for the second. Turmon hit another ground to second for the third out. Williams picked up a single in the bottom of the fourth, but the Vikings couldn’t get anything going in the inning.

Two of St. Joseph’s batters flew out in the top of the fifth and Angelo Pahila fouled to right for the third out with Latta’s Donell Stanley making the catch. But the Knights kept Latta off the bases in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the sixth, St. Joseph’s Twomey hit a grounder to the shortstop but made it safely to first. Hendrix picked off Twomey at first as Hawkins struck out swinging, but McDermott hit a single to the right to reach base and advanced to second on a missed ball. Stamler walked and McDermott advanced to third. With two outs, Latta’s Jenkins caught the next hit to third to end the inning. On his way to his position, St. Joseph’s Stamler was ejected from the game after yelling something at one of the umpires.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Latta’s Hendrix hit one by third and Bowen hit one by first to advance runner Colby Lee, but Lee was tagged out at third for the second out. Power flew out to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Turmon struck out watching and St. Joseph’s first base coach also had to be ejected from the game for yelling something about the call. Marable flew out and Leonard got the last out to end the game with Latta claiming the win.

Christian Hendrix got the win, pitching four innings for one hit, one walk, and one out. Latta starter Travis Power pitched three innings for five hits, one out, and four walks.

Nick Leonard took the loss for St. Joseph’s, pitching all six innings for six walks, seven hits, and three outs.

Latta had seven hits in the win, including a double from Hendrix and a double from Williams, who picked up three RBIs. Stanley also picked up a RBI.

St. Joseph’s was led by David Marable and Nick Leonard with one RBI each, and Twomey picked up a RBI on a walk.

The Vikings improve to 23-2 and were scheduled to travel to St. Joseph’s on Wednesday night for game two of the series. If Latta wins, they will claim the state title. If the Knights win, a third game will be played on Friday at a neutral site.

CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery from the game!