In the bottom of the third with two outs, Paly junior shortstop Nick Goodspeed struck out, but Mountain View Junior catcher Adam Lanthier dropped the ball.

By rule, with first base occupied, the batter cannot advance unless there are two outs. However, the umpire signaled Goodspeed out causing Lanthier to roll the ball back to the pitcher and head toward the dugout. After a short pause, Goodspeed kept running to first as Paly players and coaches began arguing with the umpire.

After the disputed call, the Vikings scored five runs off Mountain View senior Jason Marshalla and never looked back. After minutes of discussion between the umpires, they decided to let the inning continue.

"I was about to protest the game if they didn’t change the call," Paly head coach Joel Kaufman said. "If we did that, we would have had to start the game all over again."

"It was the correct call, and we capitalized on the error," said junior Vikings’ pitcher Alex Schmarzo.

Backed by a hot offense, Schmarzo totaled six strikeouts and allowed two hits and four walks in five innings.

"I had a little trouble finding my stuff," Schmarzo said. "The defense behind me was amazing."

Paly junior first baseman Will Elmore led the offense with three hits and two RBIs, while senior Jon Koepfgen had two hits and three RBIs.

The Vikings beat Mountain View earlier this season 4-0 when senior pitcher Andrew White beat Mountain View’s Joe Hatasaki. Hatasaki is already committed to Arizona State University, a Division I school, on a scholarship. Last year, he underwent "Tommy John" surgery, a surgical procedure where a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body, and sat out the 2005 season. This year, Hatasaki bounced back to draw the attention of several Division I schools.

On Apr. 13th, Paly junior pitcher Carey Schwartz held Serra high school, ranked second in the state, to just two runs and six hits. In the bottom of the first inning, sophomore outfielder Michael Martin made a jaw-dropping catch that robbed a two-run homer from Serra shortstop Jon Karcich.

Sportsfocus selected Martin’s catch as the play of the month, and the Palo Alto Baseball Program will receive a $1,000 check, according to Kaufman.

With their win over Mountain View, the Vikings (9-11 overall, 6-6 league) won their fifth straight league game to take second place in the De Anza League. Only Los Gatos (19-4 overall, 11-2 league) stands in front of them. Unfortunately, the Vikings then lost two games to Los Gatos with Kyle Blair starting both games. Blair has more no hitters than runs allowed this year.

"In the beginning of the year, people predicted us to finish last in the league," Kaufman said. "We’re out to prove them wrong."

The Vikings next host Gunn at 3:30 p.m. on Mon. May 1st.