After falling short of a league title this year, the Palo Alto High School baseball team (13-12) looks forward to making a run in the upcoming Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and Central Coast Section playoffs.

The Vikings will open the SCVAL playoffs on Tuesday at Wilcox High School.

“We have had some stumbles along the way, but we are hoping to finish strong,” senior outfielder Bowen Gerould said.  “We need to play well as a team in playoffs to beat some of the solid teams that we will face.”

So far, strong pitching has led the team to a successful season, finishing third in league, according to senior second basemen Anthony Lim.

“Our pitching so far has been really good and consistent,” Lim said.  “Our hitting over the past couple of games needs some work.”

While the Vikings’ pitching continues to be successful, other areas leave room for improvement, according to senior third baseman Noah Phillips.

“All of our pitchers are throwing strikes, and we are doing a good job playing strong defense behind them,” Phillips said.  “We can improve a little on our offensive execution – bunting and base-running especially.  Those things might end up being the difference in a game, especially down the stretch.”

Gerould agrees that the offense needs to step it up in the coming games.

“All of us need to hit better as a whole,” Gerould said.  “We need to improve on getting guys home once we get them on base.”

The Vikings finished third in the De Anza League,  and are hoping to be placed in the open division for CCS playoffs, according to Phillips.

“We all think we can make a deep run,” Phillips said.

Overall, Lim agrees that the Vikings will be able to pull together and make a run in league and CCS playoffs.

“The team is bonding well,” Lim said.  “We have a very tightly knit group.”

Senior ace Chris Smith will likely take the mound as the Vikings opening playoff game takes place at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Wilcox baseball field.