Despite dropping four of five games at the season opening Mike Bearman Memorial Tournament, South Tahoe’s baseball coach Starbuck Teevans was optimistic about the way his team played.

“The guys never gave up, which is always good to see as a coach,” Teevans said.

The tournament, played in Reno, had the Vikings facing larger teams throughout the weekend.

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“It gives them an idea how to compete and shows them we can compete with better schools,” Teevan added.

The first game, played on Thursday, was against Spanish Spring High School, which, according to Teevan, is a very well coached team with good defense.

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“That was a game for us to get the kinks out,” said Teevan. “We hadn’t seen much live pitching yet.”

Dakota Lynch, normally centerfield, started on the mound for the Vikings. He gave up 10 hits and recorded two strikeouts.

The game ended in a 9-0 loss.

On Friday morning, the Vikings played Carson with junior captain Kolby Eymann starting on the mound.

Eymann kept a no-hitter going into the fourth inning.

“It was different for the first time out this year,” said Eymann. “I had a good defense behind me and they just hit the ball into our gloves.”

Teevan said Eymann lost his control and was replaced with senior Sergio Burgueno when Carson scored the winning run on the last hit in the last inning to end the game 8-7.

“He (Burgueno) threw very well, but unfortunately they scored the last run,” said Teeven, who was happy with his team’s performance. “We played a very good game defensively.”

Senior RJ Rivera had three hits for four at bats and recorded three RBIs while freshman Garrett Harley also had three hits for four at bats and had two RBIs.

Friday’s afternoon game was against league opponent Lowry and the Vikings prevailed 15-8 after fighting back from a 6-0 deficit.

Senior Spencer Harnett pitched three innings recording one strikeout and two runs. Senior Liam Loftis pitched the last three innings recording four strikeouts and five runs.

Senior captainn Dominic Diana recorded five hits on four at bats and drove in five runs.

“It was a good game for us,” said Teevan, who predicted Lowry to be a tough opponent.

Saturday’s first game saw the Vikings facing off against Reno, who went undefeated at the tournament. The Huskies started a left-handed pitcher and, according to Teevan, the Vikings weren’t able to keep up with the fast pitches as Reno went on to win 10-3.

Harnett started on the mound for South Tahoe pitching three innings and giving up three runs and recording one strikeout.

“He pitched very well, threw a lot of strikes and kept Reno off balance,” said Teevan.

Sophomore Jordan Switzer pitched the last three innings, giving up eight runs on seven hits and recording two strikeouts.

At the plate, junior Aaron Phister had two hits for three at bats and two RBIs.

The last game of the tournament saw South Tahoe dropping an 18-8 decision against Wooster High School.

Harley was the Vikings starting pitcher and gave up 12 hits, 10 runs and recorded two strikeouts.

Burgueno went two for three at the plate and drove in two runs and junior Dakota Lynch recorded two hits with two at bats.

Diana and Eymann both had nine hits over the five games and were both as optimistic as Teevan with the teams showing.

“I think we’ll go farther than we did last year,” Diana said, adding that he knows it’ll take work and “there are no teams we can take lightly.”

Burguano had eight hits on the weekend and freshman standout Harley had six. Teevan added Phister, normally second base, caught three of the five games and came through with some clutch hits and big RBIs.

The Vikings’ first home game is Friday at 3 p.m. against Elko.

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South Tahoe’s JV baseball team traveled to the Yerington Preseason Tournament last Friday and Saturday, March 14-15.

The Vikings beat Dayton 6-4 in their first game before dropping the last three. They lost to North Tahoe’s varsity squad 11-4, faced Dayton again and lost 7-5 and finally played Fernley to a 9-2 loss.

“This is a whole new group of kids and I’m really proud of their effort,” said coach Kevin Higgins. “Given that we’ve only been together 10 days, I expect great things.”

Higgins pointed out how all pitchers played well, particularly Moises Cuevas, Logan Brewer and Chaz Ross.

Offensively, cenerfielder Austin Allen was a standout going five for eight with a walk, including two doubles and one triple.

The next games for JV will be a three-game series Friday and Saturday in Elko.