Tuesday was the hottest day of 2022 so far and Mission College Stadium was the perfect locale for one of the state's hottest teams. The West Valley baseball team took advantage of a six-run fifth inning to edge Cañada 6-5 for its eighth straight win and 13th in 14 games. 

After spotting the Colts (4-19, 0-7 Coast-North) a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth, the Vikings (16-8, 7-0) pushed across five unearned runs in a "you don't see that every day" six-run home half of the inning.

Aran Cox reached on a one-out E3 and moved to second on a balk. Cox went to third on a Connor Leaverton ground-out to first and then scored on a Jacob Dressler single. A Cole Murchison single and a Curran Ozawa-Burns walk loaded the bases. Dressler scored on the next pitch, an Evan Meier RBI-HBP, to bring the Vikings to within 4-2 with two down. A Cañada pickoff attempt at first went deep into right field foul territory, scoring Murchison and Ozawa-Burns and evening it up at 4-4. The pitching woes continued for the Colts, as Tristan Silveira was plunked and promptly stole second. With Meier at third and Silveira at second, Jaden Mazzaferro reached on an E1 that allowed both runners to come home for a 6-4 WVC lead that was never relinquished. Inning summary: six runs, five unearned, on two hits and three Colt errors, two hit batters and a balk.

Cañada made it 6-5 with a run in the top of the seventh, but Jalen Jagdeo set the Colts down in order in the eighth and Roman Connolly struck out a looking Tyler Nelson for the final out.

Dressler stayed in torrid mode with a 3-4 outing that raised his season average to .371, just behind team leader Cole Murchison, who improved to .372 with a 2-4 afternoon. Starter Cae Cox picked up the win, scattering eight hits and striking out three in five innings.