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VIDALIA – The Vidalia High School Vikings had plenty of chances to bring runners in last Tuesday afternoon in their home game against the LHSAA District 2-2A rival Mangham High School Dragons at the Concordia Recreation District 3 Complex.

The problem for Vidalia was it couldn’t get the key base hits when it needed to and that hurt the Vikings in a 10-2 loss the powerhouse Mangham Dragons in a game that could have put a big dent in Vidalia’s postseason hopes.

“Mangham’s a great team. Always have been. Always will be,” Vikings head coach Seth Thompson said. “We competed hard. Played a clean game. We just left too many runners on base. We left 17 runners on base.”

Almond (no first name given) had himself quite the performance both on the mound and at the plate that would have made Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani proud.

Almond got the start on the mound for Mangham and gave up two earned runs on six hits, struck out eight batters, and walked only two batters over five strong innings to pick up the win on the mound. At the plate, he went 4-for-4 with a triple.

The Dragons scored four runs in the top of the first inning, followed by two runs each in the top of the second, third, and fifth innings. The Vikings scored one run in the bottom of the third inning, but by that then they trailed 8-1. They were down 10-1 before scoring their final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Despite the loss, Thompson noted that he was pleased with the Vikings’ effort and energy they displayed.

“They played hard. They made some great defensive plays defensively. They played with a lot of energy. Played a fairly clean game. Just couldn’t score any runs,” Thompson said.

Gage Cupstid had half of the Vikings’ six base hits as he went 3-for-4. Almond was the only multiple hitter for the Dragons.

Vidalia (6-9, 1-3) play host to Harrisonburg High School for the Vikings’ Senior Night game this Saturday at 4 p.m.