After several weeks of inaction stemming from the St. Thomas Carnival and inclement weather, the Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League resumed play at D.C. Canegata Ball Park with the Vikings taking on the powerful defending champion Cardinals.
The night, however, belonged to the Vikings. Thanks to the right arm of ace Cantibol Encarnacion and four Cardinals’ errors they were able to knock off the champs 7-2 in a time-shortened six-inning contest.
Encarnacion dominated the Cardinals batters from the start, striking out four of the first six he faced and holding them scoreless until the third.
Meanwhile the Vikings had no such problem against Cardinals’ pitching. Batting in the top of the first, Encarnacion helped his own cause by delivering a bases-loaded, base-clearing double to open the scoring for the game, giving his team the early 3-0 lead.
The score would stay that way until Fernando Quezada delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the third to bring the Cards to within two at 3-1.
The Vikings would add two more runs in the top of the fourth and two in the fifth to push their advantage to 7-1. The Cardinal could only managed a lone run in the bottom of the sixth and final inning to go down by a final score of 7-2.
Encarnacion went the distance in picking up the win on the hill for the Vikings, while Norbert Pickering got the loss for the Cardinals.
Top batters for the winners were Encarnacion (2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs) and Jahmoy Williams (1 for 3 with a double and an RBI). For the Cardinals, Quezada and Ian Lewis were both 1 for 3 with an RBI.