MOUNT VERNON – It took Andy Smith and the North Kitsap defense one inning to get into a groove Saturday at the Class 3A state baseball tournament.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, one inning was all O’Dea needed to take control on its way to a 7-1 win over North. The Fighting Irish jumped out to a 4-0 first inning lead on the shoulders of a three-run homer from junior Gabe Lee and neither the Viking offense nor defense could rally.

“It stung a little bit,” Smith said of the first inning fiasco. “Then we made a couple nice plays and we were back in it again.”

The Vikings held the Irish scoreless in the next four innings, but never fully recovered from the game’s traumatic opening. They managed only three hits on the afternoon, and put up their only run when third baseman Trevor Bennett cranked a solo shot over the left field fence in the third inning.

“We’re not going to win if we just get three hits,” North Kitsap head coach Jeff Weible said. “We just couldn’t adjust. And that’s the ball game right there, really.”