Vikings keep magical playoff run alive behind Marton's 10-strikeout performance

Eight days after winning a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III title at Sacramento City College, the Oakmont High Vikings baseball team traveled four hours down to Monterey Peninsula College and defeated Carmel High 6-1. The win was the second for the Vikings in the week as they traveled more than three hours on May 30 to face Liberty High in Madera and won 3-2. "I couldn't be prouder of a group of kids who come down here four hours on a bus on Tuesday, four hours again today and do what they've done," Vikings coach Paul Martinez said. "This is all new to us and essentially going from one end of Northern California to the other and playing, the kids have done a phenomenal job and I give them all the credit." Oakmont High was led by their ace pitcher, senior Kurt Marton, who struck out 10 batters on 104 pitches while only allowing one run. Marton struck out seven batters in the section title game against Woodland High on May 24. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced on Thursday against the Padres. "We're all like brothers so I know everyone is going to pull for each other," Marton said."The brotherhood keeps the energy high. My fastball and curveball were good all day; I felt pretty comfortable throwing both. I threw some good splitters to keep guys off balance and just had confidence that everyone behind me would do their job." Carmel High scored first from a Viking error in the third inning but Oakmont High took the lead in the fourth from a two-run home run by junior Tony Lira that soared over the fence in left-center field, making it 2-1. Lira is batting .398 on the season and has three homers and 27 runs batted in (RBIs). "It was a hitters count and I knew I was going to get a fastball," Lira said. "I just put the barrel on the ball and I didn't think it would go out because of the wind but it just went." The Vikings added another run in the fifth from an RBI single by leadoff batter Trevor Wilson and scored three more in the sixth, two from a Padres error with Lira scoring from second base. The Padres had two runners on in the bottom of the seventh but Marton got out of the jam with a strikeout to end the game. This is the furthest an Oakmont High baseball team has made it in history as last year was the first year baseball had a NorCal playoff. The Vikings also won a section title in 2019 with a 30-3 record. "This is a very similar team to 2019 when it comes to camaraderie," Martinez said. "I think the other team was slightly more talented on the mound and we have finessed our way through things but they have done a great job adapting and playing the game the way it's supposed to be played." The Vikings will play in their first NorCal title game on Saturday at Central Catholic High School in Modesto at 4 p.m. "It's the last game of the year either way and it's a great honor to go out and try to do that," Martinez said. "After this week, I think it's tougher to win this championship than the section title with all the travel but we are very much looking forward to it. We have to navigate graduation and senior grad night but they'll figure it out and our guys are highly committed to our process." Oakmont High School has their graduation ceremony on Friday. Despite the NorCal playoffs falling on the same week as graduation and with summer vacation around the corner along with travel ball, players remain ready to battle for another championship. "This is mainly the most important thing that I do," Marton said. "I love being out here and there's no place we'd rather be. We'd rather be here than sitting in a classroom or stressing about graduation. We come out here and clear our minds and play our game."