Sports : District baseball: Struve's first career homer caps Viking win over Benton

Nathan Struve celebrates his 3-run home run as he heads toward 3rd base.

Vikings celebrate with Nathan Struve as he touches home plate.

Nathan Struve came to the plate in the top of the 7th, hoping to give the Vikings an insurance run.

An error allowed Benton to score a run in the bottom of the 6th (because it was a District contest, the official home team is not determined by the location of the game), and the Vikings were hoping to add to their 3-2 lead.

Connor Miracle ended up on second on a scoring error; Will Edward was hit by a pitch. After a bunt sacrifice moved advanced the runners, Struve came to the plate.

The audience cheered as they heard and saw the ball leave his bat. Struve sprinted to first, seeing he had hit the ball well.

"I was hoping for extra bases, wondering if I could make it to second or third," he said later.

The hitter was the last person at the ball field to realize that he had hit his very first high school home run. The 3-run dinger gave the Vikings a 6-2 lead, and senior Tyler Rippel retired the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh. The Vikings advance to the District Championship game vs. Marion, at 7 p.m. Monday in Vinton. Marion defeated CPU before the VS-Benton game. The Viking win avenged two losses to Benton during the regular season.

Benton had taken a 1-0 lead, but the Vikes had come from behind and were leading 3-1 going into the sixth.

See the VS stat page HERE.