The Siuslaw Vikings baseball team went toe to toe with the state's best Class 4A team Tuesday and came away with heads held high.

"Hidden Valley is a really good baseballl team, and our team was right with them all game long," Siuslaw coach Tom Shinn said.

The Mustangs (9-0) extended their Class 4A win streak record to 27 games with an 8-2 win a Dodson Stadium. The defending state champions last lost in the semifinals of the 2019 playoffs.

The Vikings were anything but a cakewalk for the Mustangs, who pushed four runs across in the top of the seventh to finally forge a little breathing room.

Siuslaw took a 2-1 lead into the third inning and trailed by only two, 4-2, entering the seventh and final frame.

Vikings senior pitcher Ethan Halpin did yeoman's work, a complete-game effort featuring 104 pitches, 65 for strikes.

"Ethan Halpin threw a fantastic complete game," Shinn said. "He struck out six, walking only two, over the course of the seven innings.

"I was really happy how he handled some stressful situations while on the mound."

Offensively, senior shortstop Beau Erickson and freshman right fielder Joel Sissel had two hits each to account for the Vikings' total four hits.

"Beau had a strong night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base," Shinn noted. "Joel was a bright spot this evening as well. He was also 2-for-3 with a couple of stolen bases."

The loss dropped the Vikings to 5-4 for the season.

"Scheduling top caliber opponents is helping us become a better team," Shinn said. "I am confident we can use this as momentum going into the Creswell game."

Siuslaw hosts Creswell at 4 p.m. Thursday at Dodson Stadium in a nonleague game against schools who will be in the same league next school year.

The Vikings open their final season of 4A Sky-Em League play on Tuesday at Marist.

HIDDEN VALLEY 101 020 4 — 8  11  0
SIUSLAW             020 000 0 — 2    4  3
Luke Matthew, Nate Vidlak (2), Noah Stone (7) and Alex Elzy; Ethan Halpin and Henry Rankin. WP — Nate Vidlak. LP — Ethan Halpin.

SIUSLAW SCHEDULE
Record: 5-4 overall, 0-0 Sky-Em League
March 15 — Siuslaw 7, at Sutherlin 1, 1st game
March 15 — Siuslaw 7, at Sutherlin 5, 2nd game
March 18 — at Mazama 9, Siuslaw 2, at Klamath Falls
March 19 — Siuslaw 13, at Klamath Union 3, 5 innings, 1st game
March 19 — Siuslaw 22, at Klamath Union 0, 3 innings, 2nd game
March 25 — at Siuslaw 9, Coquille 2
April 1 — Pleasant Hill 12, at Siuslaw 9, 1st game
April 1 — Pleasant Hill 6, at Siuslaw 5, 2nd game, 5 innings, darkness
April 5 — Hidden Valley 8, at Siuslaw 2
Thursday, April 7 — Creswell, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, April 12 — at Marist, 5 p.m.
Friday, April 15 — Junction City (DH), 3 p.m.
Tuesday, April 19 — Cottage Grove, 5 p.m.
Friday, April 22 — at Elmira (DH), 3 p.m.
Tuesday, April 26 — at Marshfield, 5 p.m.
Friday, April 29 — Marist (DH), 3 p.m.
Tuesday, May 3 — at Junction City, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 6 — at Cottage Grove (DH), 3 p.m.
Tuesday, May 10 — Elmira, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 13 — Marshfield (DH), 3 p.m.

VARSITY ROSTER
  2 Isaac Garza, senior, RHP/2B
  3 Noah Dotson, junior, OF/RHP
  4 Beau Erickson, senior, SS/RHP
  5 Victor Ayala, junior, U/OF
  8 Ethan Aaron, senior, OF/RHP
  9 Ethan Halpin, senior, RHP/1B
10 Henry Rankin, senior, C/1B
12 Ian Sissel, junior, OF/C
13 Jason Garcia, senior, RHP/U
14 Joel Sissel, freshman, OF/RHP
15 Jacob Welton, junior, RHP/OF
21 Andrew Jensen-Norman, sophomore, RHP, 1B
22 Max Reynolds, freshman, U
34 Armando Galvam-Mendez, sophomore, 3B
Coach: Tom Shinn
Assistant: Dan Rankin

JV ROSTER
Billy Massey, sophomore, RHP
Michael Felkins, freshman, RHP/OF
Eaden Mead, sophomore, RHP/2B
Dayne Muller, sophomore, RHP/C
Jacob Dunn, sophomore, 1B
Sylas Gorder, freshman, 1B
Max Reynolds, freshman, SS/RHP
Peyton Sandusky, sophomore, OF/RHP
Kai Diocson, sophomore, OF/RHP
Mathias Wilson, sophomore, LHP/OF
Tate Bottensek, sophomore, LHP/OF
Leonardo Robertson, freshman, OF
Damian Cano, sophomore, RHP/C
Coach: Jim Baxter