May 3, 2007 — The defending champion Vikings appeared to still be in championship form as they crushed the Cardinals 34-3 in five innings via the 10-run-mercy rule in the first game of their title defense of the Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League.
The Vikings pounded Cardinals pitching for a monumental 26 hits in just five innings.
Batting first, the champs got on the board right away with three runs on a two-run RBI single by David Clarke and a Cardinals error. The Cardinals answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning as a result of wildness by the Vikings starter, who walked three of the first four hitters he saw.
The Vikings then put the game away in the top of the second, batting around and exploding for 15 runs, six of them unearned. The scoring came on two- and three-run home runs by player-manager Dennis Brow, an RBI triple by Rodney Raphael, an RBI double and an RBI single by Cantibol Encarnacion, and an RBI single by Warren Brooks. Ronald Hall’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning scored the Cardinals last run of the game and they trailed 18-3 after just two innings.
Things would just go downhill from there for the Cardinals, as the Vikings, not really trying, would score in every inning the rest of the way.
The Vikings closed out their scoring for the game in the fifth with four runs on a two-run single by Newton and RBI singles by Raphael and Colin King.
Vikings ace Arthur Canaii, with the game well in hand, came on in the fourth inning to get some work in. He fanned six of the seven hitters he faced, showing that he was just about in midseason form already.
Ivor James pitched the win for the Vikings, while Javier Rodriguez got the loss for the Cardinals. The Vikings hit parade was led by Raphael, (7-for-7 with two RBIs), Dennis Brow (2-for-2 with two home runs and five RBIs), Reuben Garcia (2-for-3 with three RBIs) and King (2-for-2 with two RBIs). For the Cardinals, Halls was 1-for-2 with one RBI, and Rodriguez was 1-for-2.
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