Sports : Vikings defeat S. Tama; to play Benton tonight for District Championship

Nate Struve was the winning pitcher Friday. Jared Thompson attempts to pick off a ST runner at first. Last season, the Vinton-Shellsburg baseball team won two of the three straight games necessary to advance to the State tournament, losing 6-5 at DeWitt Central in the Sub-State game. This season, the Class 3A 3rd-ranked team has won its first game and will play Benton Community tonight for the District 11 title. The winner will play in the Sub-State game Wednedsay in Vinton, against the winner of the Knoxville-Oskaloosa game. Coach Jim Struve shared the following summary of the Vikings win over South Tama on Friday evening: Vikings beat South Tama 12-3 in the 1st round of District play at Viking Field Friday Night. Vikings scored 3 runs in the 1st inning, 1 run in the 2nd, 5 runs in the 4th, and 3 runs in the 5th inning to complete the scoring. Jared Thompson led the offensive attack with 3 hits, 2 doubles, and 5 RBI's. Tanner Davis and Scottie Wirth each had 2 hits, while Nathan Struve and Wes Edwards added RBI doubles and Blake Bohnsack also had a double. Nathan Struve pitched 4 strong innings to receive the Win with 7 strikeouts and Scott Betterton pitched the final 3 innings to receive the Save while striking out 5 batters. Vikings are 34-5-1 on the season. Vikings will play Benton Community on Monday July 17th at 7:00pm at Viking Field to determine the District Final winner.