The Southland Vikings (10-12) struck early and often as they took down the DuPage County Hounds (13-11) at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

In the first inning, the Vikings took the early lead as Chris Stevens’ infield single allowed Elliott Armstrong to score from third. The next batter was James Dawson who knocked a 2-run home run to right field to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Micah Rooke reached on an error and Damon Saunders followed with a 2-run home run to push the Vikings’ lead to 5-0.

But in the middle innings, the Hounds started to come back thanks to a couple Vikings’ errors. The home team ended with four errors, and the Hounds were only down 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Vikings were able to score four runs in that inning, including RBIs from Stevens, Alec Ornelas, and Rooke, giving the Vikings a 9-4 lead. Each Vikings batter recorded a hit with Stevens standing out, going 2 for 4 with one run scored and two RBIs.

Chris Chigas was stellar on the mound as he pitched a complete game for his first win of the season. He allowed only one earned run off seven hits while striking out nine. The Vikings will be back at home Tuesday at 2:30 when they host the Chicago Zephyrs.