The Southland Vikings travelled to Legacy Field to take on the Lake County Corn Dogs on Sunday but were unable to quiet the bats of the Corn Dogs as they fell 11-3.
With many dads in attendance to celebrate Father’s Day, the Vikings struck first after Jack Fitzharris was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Shemar Harris in the first inning.
The Corn Dogs would answer back in the bottom of the frame as they took advantage of a wild start by Mike Kelly, scoring on both a walk and hit by pitch with the bases loaded to take a 2-1 lead.
The Corn Dogs added three more in the second inning before the Vikings got one back in the third after Shemar Harris drove in his second run of the game with an RBI double to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
Mike Kelly settled in to set down the Corn Dogs in order in the third, but a Ranko Stevanovic two run homer in the fourth made it 7-2 Corn Dogs. A Hayden Matulich single followed and ended Kelly’s day on the mound.
Daniel Quintero came on in relief for the Vikings and had his best outing of the season tossing 3 1/3 shutout innings while allowing one hit, one walk and a hit batter.
The score remained 7-2 going into the bottom of the eighth as the Vikings could not bring a run across against Corn Dog relievers Harrison Dubois and Zach Beerling.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Corn Dogs broke the game open with four more runs to take an 11-2 lead into the ninth.
The Vikings scored one in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Ty Chaney Jr, but that was all they could manage as they dropped to 0-4 against the reigning champions to start the season.
The Vikings (7-10) will try to right the ship on Monday when they host the Northwest Indiana Oilmen (9-5) at Dowling Park. First pitch is at 5pm.