Palo Alto High School’s softball team narrowly defeated Saratoga, 6-5, on Monday, May 12, bringing the Vikings’ overall league record to 10-12.

For the first five innings, Paly trailed behind as Saratoga executed solid defense with skillful pitches and solid fielding. All hope seemed to have been lost as the Vikings consecutively struck and flied out.

In the second inning, Suzanne Lessack of Saratoga hit an impressive triple, scoring her team its first point soon afterwards. Lessack managed yet another triple in the fourth inning.

Paly did not score its first point until the fifth inning, when sophomore Kelli Fangonilo made a successful run following the hits of two teammates. Although Saratoga already had 5 runs at this point, Fangonilo’s run offered the Vikings a boost in confidence that was held for the rest of the game. "[We have] managed to make a comeback before," exclaimed one Paly parent.

The real turnaround took place at the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Vikings managed to score 4 runs in a brief ten minutes. A series of sharp hits and runs by juniors Shira Ben-Or and Leah Willis caught Paly up and the inning ended 5-5.

In the 7th inning, both teams struck and flied out without scoring.

In the 8th inning, senior shortstop Justine Wool hit a single and went home after three more teammates batted, helping Paly obtain the winning point.

"We just wanted to make something happen," head coach Danny Valencia said. "We had a rough start, being down 5-0, but [the Vikings] tried hard and pulled through in the end."

Looking ahead, Paly will play Milpitas tomorrow, with whom they share first place in the El Camino Division. Following, the Vikings play two separate matches with Cupertino on Wednesday and Thursday.