POULSBO — With temperatures reaching down into the thirties Monday afternoon, the North Kitsap Vikings hosted the Sequim Wolves and mounted a late comeback to take a 12-2 victory. Alex Smith recorded the win for the Vikings, and went 2-3 at the plate, with two RBI. Nick Benish was 3-5 with three RBI.

Sequim jumped on top early with a two-run shot in the first by Jason Baker, to take a 2-0 lead that would last nearly three innings. The Vikings loaded the bases in the first and second, but left runners stranded at the end of both innings. North managed to score their first run in the bottom of the third, when a Kevin Stringer double drove in Benish, who was on with a double of his own.

“I think we were pretty confident that we had the bases loaded in the first few innings,” said NK coach Jeff Weible. “Once one guy gets a hit, everybody relaxes a bit.”

Sequim held off the Vikings for most of the next two innings, but in the bottom of the fifth, with two out, Wolves pitcher Alex Gillis started making mistakes. After a wild pitch and two walks in a row, Sequim brought in Drew Rickerson, who walked in a run on a balk on his first pitch. With the score tied at two apiece, Zak Smit doubled to drive in two runs. After a Daniel Jewett RBI and a couple Sequim errors, the Vikings took a 7-2 lead by the end of the inning.

“I think once that kid balked and we got that run in there, that kind of let the pressure off,” said Weible.

North brought in Andy Smith to pitch in the sixth, and the Wolves went down in order. The Vikings knocked in five more runs in the bottom of the inning, to boost their lead to 12-2, where it would remain, as Sequim failed to score in the seventh.

The Vikings travel to Kingston to take on the Buccaneers today at 4 p.m.