The Inglemoor High baseball team got a strong outing from junior starter Dustin Doucette and a ton of offense as the Vikings swept aside 3A Juanita, 11-2, in a nonleague game on Friday night at Valhalla, the Vikings’ home field, for their ninth-consecutive win.

Doucette, coming off a strong outing against Lake Washington in a 10-7 victory, pitched nearly flawless ball for three innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three.

Being a nonleague game, head coach Bryan McNaghten gave untested sophomore Lucas Wimmer the call in the decisive fourth inning.

Wimmer battled early nerves to give up two runs, including an untimely balk.

“Dustin’s doing great, he’s feeling pretty good,” McNaghten said. “But it was only the second time that (Wimmer) pitched a full inning in a varsity game. He was a little nervous, but they all need that.”

BATTING AROUND

After Juanita tied the game in the fourth, the Vikings brought their characteristic firepower to the plate against tiring Rebel starter Zac Brandon, who had thrown 63 pitches through the first three innings.

First it was designated hitter Scott Meyers singling to right field, and then a pop fly by third baseman Peter Meuisi seemed to have eyes, dropping in no-man’s land for a base hit.

Junior Garret Vandiver laced a two-run double to left, and then the floodgates opened as 10 consecutive batters in total ended up reaching base, highlighted by a bases-clearing double to right by team co-captain Ethan Yeo, who finished with four RBIs on the night.

“We’re all a tight group of guys, we all know our roles and what we need to do to get our job done,” Yeo explained. “When a guy comes up in a situation, he knows what he’s gotta do to score the run. We’re doing all the little things right.”

From there, junior Emmett Maki shut down the Rebels, and the Vikings earned their 10th win of the season.

Meyers went 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs, and Vandiver knocked in two runs in a 2-for-2 night at the plate.

A TRUE TEST

Although the Vikings’ league schedule has been far from a pushover so far in the tough 4A Kingco league, it doesn’t get much more harrowing than next week for Inglemoor, the only remaining unbeaten team in the league.

“We play Newport, Issaquah and Redmond in one week,” McNaghten noted. “That’s quite a schedule, but they gotta play Inglemoor, too.”

With a team that seems to have all the tools, great offensive production up and down the lineup and a deep pitching staff, the Vikings look ready to prove themselves against the league’s top talent.

“We’re a pretty deep team, and that’s where our success comes from,” said Meyers, who has driven in a total of 10 runs in the last four games. “Pitching, offense, one through nine can swing it… and we pick each other up.”

The stats plainly speak for themselves as the Vikings have outscored their opponents 59-17 in their seven league wins so far this year.

“I think it’s just working together as a team,” said Yeo on what has made the Vikings so successful this year. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and not take anything for granted.”

The Vikings (7-0, 10-1) played Newport (6-1, 8-1) late Monday night after the Reporter’s deadline.