The Palo Alto High School baseball team (14-9, 9-3) suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Wilcox Chargers (17-7, 9-3) in a crucial De Anza League game Friday afternoon at Paly.

In a game that turned out to be an exhilarating pitchers’ duel, the Chargers pulled out the victory and overtook the Vikings to top the De Anza League standings.

Paly’s ace, junior Chris Smith, turned in a stellar performance, pitching a complete game with six strikeouts and limiting the Chargers to only three hits. However, Smith lacked any kind of offensive support as the Vikings could only muster up one hit the entire game.

“I was feeling good on the mound today. I was confident and I wanted to win it for my team,” Smith said. “Our defense was great and helped me out a lot, but unfortunately our offense struggled.”

The Chargers’ lone run came in the third inning after their batter reached on an infield single. The ensuing Chargers hitter ripped a triple down the left field line bringing home the baserunner. Smith prevented further damage in the inning with a strikeout and junior outfielder Daniel Tachna-Fram helped by making a spectacular catch at the wall.

Meanwhile, the Vikings only managed to get their first hit in the seventh inning, a single by senior Isaac Feldstein. Junior Bowen Gerould then advanced Feldstein to second with a textbook sacrifice bunt down the third base line, but with two outs, junior pinch hitter Danny Erlich grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

It was a disappointing defeat for the Vikings, who failed to capitalize on the opportunity to gain sole possession of first place in the De Anza League with only two games remaining.

“Its disappointing we couldn’t get this win,” Smith said. “It would have put us in a really good position to win the league.”

The Vikings play their next league game against the Santa Clara Bruins (5-19, 2-10) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Washington Park. If they can win their final two games against the Bruins, the Vikings still have a chance to win the De Anza Division.