SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Ian Ross was brilliant on the mound, Garrett Freiderici came through with a clutch hit and South Tahoe earned a thrilling extra inning victory over rival Truckee on Tuesday night at Greater Nevada Field, home of the Reno Aces.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and a runner on third base, Friederici lofted a fly ball into right field that landed safely between fielders to bring home Forrest Jones and give the Vikings a 2-1 lead, and an eventual win, over the Wolverines.

Ross pitched the first seven innings in dominating fashion. He gave up just two hits, one unearned run and no walks while striking out 13.

“Ian was just outstanding,” said Vikings first-year Head Coach Mark Shehadi. “He threw 107 pitches and his last pitch was just as strong as his first, and not one walk. He was in tears after the game he was so happy. And Garrett was our best hitter on Tuesday. He was on every pitch and he put the ball in play and came up with a big hit. But it was fun to be a part of, especially in that atmosphere at that ballpark. The kids rose to the occasion.”

The Vikings have won 10 straight games and have grabbed control in the 3A North West League that consists of North Valleys (6-3), Truckee (5-5), Sparks (4-2), Hug (0-6) and Wooster (0-9).

The Vikings and Wolverines went scoreless through five innings before each team broke through in the sixth.

South Tahoe got on the board in the top half. Christopher Haven walked and promptly stole second base. The stolen base was supposed to be a hit-n-run but the pitch was high and Haven swiped the bag anyway.

Luke Laub brought Haven home with a single.

Laub also pitched the final two innings to earn the victory. He allowed three hits and struck out two.

Shehadi pointed out some sparkling defensive plays that helped the Vikings earn the victory.

Catcher Vinnie Abbandondolo “made the defensive play of the game” when he threw out a Truckee runner trying to steal second base.

Shehadi also noted that right fielder JR Elizalde made three fantastic defensive plays.

“We still have so much room for improvement,” Shehadi said. “We’ve only been practicing on our field for 10 days or so and have spent most of our time in the gym.”

The Vikings will put their 10-game win streak on the line with several games over the next week or so. They will travel to Las Vegas for a tournament on April 11-13 where they’ll play four games in three days. They’ll follow that up with a three game set on Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, against Hug at South Tahoe Middle School.

“We have a lot of baseball left and we’re excited. We’ve got a bunch of games coming up, seven games in six days,” Shehadi said.

South Tahoe last week also swept Wooster in a three games set, winning each game by progressively wider margins.

On Friday, April 1, the Vikings collected 16 hits and beat the Colts 11-3.

Haven blasted a home run, doubled, singled twice and drove in four runs to lead the Vikings offense.

Also for South Tahoe, Jones doubled and singled and drove in two, Nico Wagbner doubled, singled and scored, Haden Stephen singled twice and scored two runs, Abbandondolo singled and drove in two, Ross had two hits, scored twice and had an RBI and Laub doubled and scored twice.

Even Orr tossed a complete game 2-hitter with seven strikeouts for the win.

The next day South Tahoe made quick work of the Colts, dumping them 12-2 in five innings in the first game and then 15-0 in three innings in the nightcap.

In Game 1, Wagner went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Haven doubled and drove in three, Ross doubled and scored twice and Joel Gomez singled and scored two runs.

The Vikings pounded Wooster in the nightcap.

Haven belted a double, single, scored twice and drove in four, Wagner doubled and drove in three and Elizalde tripled, singled twice, scored two runs and drove in two to lead the Vikings.

Also for the Vikings, Gomez scored three runs, Laub singled and scored twice and Orr, Jones and Matthews all had singles.

Stephen earned the easy victory with three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.