Senior Preston Ingrao is a big part of the reason why Kingsburg’s baseball team is quickly climbing up the rankings in the Central Section. Ingrao has contributed in a big way with his hitting, helping the Vikings jump out to an 8-1 record in league.
In the Vikings 14-1 win against Washington Union on Wednesday, Ingrao went 2-3 with two singles. The rest of the Vikings also came up big in the win, including junior Houston Hirschkorn who went 2-4 and senior Ayden Rocha who went 2-3.
Senior Ethan Winslow and sophomore Gavin Ekizian led the way on the mound to help secure the win.
Ingrao had another one of his strong performances on Monday when he went 2-4 to help the Vikings secure a 13-3 win over Washington Union. Against Kerman on April 21, Ingrao went 2-3 with two singles and two RBI. He also had three stolen bases in the win against Kerman.
Freshman Jensen Hirschkorn also had a strong game against Kerman, pitching five innings and striking out seven batters without allowing any runs. The Vikings finished the game without any errors and secured the 6-0 win against Kerman.
Ingrao said the work he did with his coach during the offseason is paying off.
“Our coach helped me in the off season to finally find my swing and to help me fix everything I’ve been doing wrong,” the senior said. “He has played a big part. And also my confidence, I’ve worried too much about hitting the ball instead of having fun.”
The Vikings (20-4 overall, 8-1 league), have come up with several blowout victories this season while also proving that they can pull out clutch wins. Two of the Vikings’ wins came in walkoff fashion. The first was against St. Joseph early in the season and the other was against Sierra Pacific in a league matchup.
“They were tough games where we pushed through the whole game and won,” Ingrao said. “It’s a rush that you can’t get tired of and we love it.”
Ingrao said the Vikings “do everything together.”
“We have a bond like no other and we play together and not for ourselves and we enjoy the game and having fun and we are a talented group,” he said.
Cover Photo: Samuel Marshall/ contributed by Preston Ingrao