Hammond, Ind. – June 9, 2022 – Winning one game is fun. Winning two games in a row is twice as fun. 

The Southland Vikings (5-6-1) were able to capture their second victory in a row on Thursday night, this time it came over the Chicago American Giants (1-5-1), by a score of 8-5. The Vikings did fall in a 2-0 hole in the top of the first inning but would outscore the Giants 8-3 the rest of the way.

The start of that 8-3 run by the Vikings came in the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Fenner led off the inning with a single and was able to advance to third on a throwing error made by the Giants’ third baseman. That single would be the first of two hits Fenner would have in the contest. 

“I’ve been slumping these last few games,” Fenner said. “So right now I’m just trying to swing and find the barrel.” 

Fenner would score on a sacrifice fly from George Belieki, his first RBI with the Vikings in 2022. Southland would proceed to add two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 at the time. That response was immediately met by the Giants in the top of the fourth as they would scratch a run to tie the game. 

However, the Vikings would grab hold of the lead in the bottom half of the fourth and never looked back. The first five Vikings that came up to the plate would wound up scoring, highlighted by a two-RBI double by Anthony Fornero, his first RBIs with the Vikings, and later an RBI single by George Belieki, which was his first hit of the summer. 

“I had a little bit of a mental approach,” Belieki said. “[Which was] get early and try to pull the baseball…but then [I had] that base hit into the right-center gap, it was perfect."

Behind the great offense, the pitching staff once again did its job. The Vikings sent Max Everaert to the mound for his second start of the season and he delivered. He went six and two-thirds on the mound allowing four runs yielding six hits while picking up two strikeouts. 

Everaert’s time on the mound was the longest start made by a Viking this season, and for him, the strategy on the bump was simple. 

“I was throwing it over the plate and letting my guys back me up out there,” Everaert said. “They did a great job and [if] I do that a lot of the time, we're going to win ball games.”

Southland will be back in action Friday night as they head to Crown Point to take on the Lake County Corn Dogs for the fourth matchup between the two sides in six days. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be aired on Facebook Live and the Vikings Radio Network with Cavan Malayter on the call. 

This is Vikings Baseball.