In selecting highlights, Snyder could have chosen the home runs by Trey Williams and Shane Zeile, his team's five-run first or either of two eight-run innings. He could have pointed to pitcher Brennan Bernadino's solid five innings or any of his team's 22 hits in a 22-4 Foothill League victory over Golden Valley.

Instead, Snyder chose two instances where attitude and approach turned the game.

The first came in the first inning, after Bernadino, staked to a 5-0 lead, allowed a single and a home run to the first two batters he faced. But after Golden Valley's Rocky Sherwood completed his trip around the bases after his two-run home run, Bernadino shut down the Grizzlies' offense. Aided by three double plays, Bernadino allowed one more run over five innings. He struck out one, walked one and allowed only an infield single and a solo home run by Golden Valley's Josh Smith.

"Brennan is just a tough kid mentally," Snyder said. "You always look at what a pitcher does after something bad happens - or something he thinks is bad happens. He came back and just kept pitching. He doesn't get rattled."

The second point came in the fifth inning. Despite the 5-0 start, Golden Valley went back to work and with freshman Josh Baldacci pitching three solid innings of relief, the Grizzlies were still in the game, down 6-3.

Then Valencia (5-2, 2-0) created its own game-breaking moment. A single to left by Jake Roberge and a pair of bunt singles by Michael Bratt and Adam Tapia loaded the bases. Baldacci got Williams to pop up, but the ball was dropped, two runs scored and by the time Golden Valley recorded another out, Valencia had scored eight runs and taken a 14-3 lead.

"We can do a lot of good things offensively," Snyder said. "We had really good executional at-bats today and that's a tribute to how hard our kids work at doing that. The kids know it's our game, to put pressure on the other team, and they work at it."

"The Vikings added eight more runs in the seventh. Golden Valley (3-5, 0-2) used eight pitchers in the game, including two head coach Scott Drootin said had never pitched before.

"We just got overmatched, plain and simple," Drootin said. "There's really not much more you can say about it."

Drootin was pleased his team battled back early.

"We showed a little bit of fight there, but then the doors came apart," Drootin said. "We just ran out of pitching. We really need someone to step up and throw strikes."

Someone besides Baldacci, Drootin noted.

"I didn't want to pitch him any more because he's a freshman," Drootin said. "But that kid has ice water in his veins."

Golden Valley got on the scoreboard again in the sixth when Smith blasted his second home run of the day, after breaking his bat fouling off the previous pitch.

"He's a good hitter," Drootin said. "He had two good at-bats."