Initially, the weekend would be filled with baseball on the diamonds across the county. Thomasville, Harrison and Kennesaw Mountain would be in the area to play the local teams.
However, weather concerns slowly eroded the schedule, and suddenly all that was left was a Saturday doubleheader at Northgate and the Class 7A Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs (8-2).
The Vikings came into the game on a hot note; they had won two out of their last three with wins over George Walton Academy and Fayette County.
With Region 3-5A play starting next week, the Vikings used the weekend to face top-shelf competition and prepare for the 12-game region schedule.
Chase Arrington pitched a masterful game in the first game against the Mustangs. After allowing three runs in the third, he shut down the Kennesaw Mountain offense until the Vikings offense could catch up. They answered the bell in the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Drew Manley cleared the bases with a double to tie the game. Tristan Brown, Ben Traxler and Josh Dalton all scored for Northgate.
In the top of the seventh, the Mustangs pushed across an unearned run and held on for the 4-3 victory.
In the second game, Northgate took an early 2-0 lead and later tied the game at 3-3, but the Mustangs had a big sixth inning and won 9-3.
Dominic Ottone gave Coach Todd Herrington's team another solid start with five innings, and only one earned run. Manley, Dubose and Justin Cosme all drove in a run, while Dalton led with two hits.
Regarding the Vikings region, the other four teams have winning records through the early part of the season. McIntosh is 9-1, Drew is 4-3, Harris County is 7-3-1, and Northside Columbus is 4-3-1.
After their game this week against East Coweta on Thursday, the Vikings will open region play next week against the McIntosh Chiefs.
Chase Arrington (No. 5) got the start for Northgate in the first game against Kennesaw Mountain and kept the Vikings in the game until the end.
Tristan Brown (No. 14) advances to third on a single to center from Josh Dalton.
Josh Dalton scored with the headfirst slide on a sacrifice fly from Josh Dalton.
