The Palo Alto High School baseball team (13-3-1, 8-2) suffered its second De Anza League loss, 7-4, to the Los Gatos High School Wildcats (13-8, 9-1) on Friday at home.

The Vikings defeated the Wildcats earlier in the week, 4-0, but were unable to best Los Gatos a second time.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early, 1-0, lead, but the Vikings came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the first.

Los Gatos scored three runs over the next three innings and led Palo Alto until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Vikings mounted a three run rally. The Vikings finally tied the game, 4-4, after a double from junior shortstop Ethan Stern which scored junior center fielder Ben Cleasby from second base.

Cleasby led the Vikings with three hits and two runs batted in.

In the sixth inning, the Wildcats were able to pound out two runs, putting the game out of reach for the Vikings.

The Vikings’ starting pitcher, senior Alec Olmstead, said the Los Gatos pitchers did a great job of controlling the pace of the game, and the team is looking forward to facing the Wildcats again later in the season.

“They [Los Gatos] didn’t really mess around, they got their outs quick,” Olmstead said. “They are a great team and I’m excited to face them again.”

According to junior right fielder Angus Stayte, mental errors cost the Vikings the game.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes, myself included,” Stayte said. “But now we just have to stay focused and bounce back during our game on Monday.”

The Vikings have now dropped to second place behind the Wildcats in the De Anza League standings.

The Vikings will face Leland High School at 4 p.m. Monday at Leland High School.