Baseball Game Preview: North Salinas Vikings vs. Alisal Trojans

The North Salinas Vikings will head out on the road to take on the Alisal Trojans at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

North Salinas' pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They were the clear victors by an 18-0 margin over Pajaro Valley. While the Vikings didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-10), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Jake Burkhardt

Runs

04/17/25 @ Pajaro Valley	2
04/09/25 vs Gonzales	2
04/07/25 vs Lynbrook	2
03/01/25 @ Gunn	2
04/15/25 vs Pajaro Valley	1
+ 1 more games

North Salinas let Jake Burkhardt and David Avina run wild. Burkhardt went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI, while Avina went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Burkhardt has become a key player for North Salinas: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Cervantes, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI, one run, and one double.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: North Salinas kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.6 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 9.8.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Alisal, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They blew past King City 13-3 on Tuesday.

The win made it two in a row for North Salinas and bumps their season record up to 7-5. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 15.0 runs over those games. As for Alisal, their win bumped their record up to 9-5.

North Salinas skirted past Alisal 5-4 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vikings since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.