MCKINLEYVILLE BOYS EXTEND LEAD IN THE BIG 5
Prep baseball
We're down to the final three weeks in the fast-moving Big 5 and Little 4 baseball and softball seasons with another weekend filled with league title implications around the area that started on Wednesday.
It was business as usual for McKinleyville's baseball team, the first-place Panthers headed north to Crescent City and left with a 6-2 victory in a battle between the team's two aces, with Del Norte's junior Preston Daniels toeing the rubber for the Warriors and Evan Fraser going for the Panthers.
Del Norte scored a run in the 1st inning and held a 1-0 lead until the Panthers scored three in the 4th inning off Daniels and never looked back. McKinleyville added on insurance runs in the 6th and 7th innings to push their lead to 6-1. The Warriors pushed across a run in the 7th but couldn't mount the comeback, with the 6-2 loss dropping Del Norte to 1-3 in the Big 5.
With second-place Eureka on a bye this week, the win for the Panthers puts them 1.5 games ahead of the Loggers after McKinleyville's 6-1 start to league play. McKinleyville has been dominant since Big 5 play opened up in late-March. The Panthers allowed only 14 runs over seven Big 5 games — that's tied with Arcata for the fewest runs allowed, but Arcata has played in three fewer games. On the offensive side, the Panthers' 58 runs scored more than doubles any other Big 5 team's total, with Fortuna in second place with 28.
Fortuna and Arcata was the other Big 5 matchup Wednesday, with the Tigers getting their first league win, 9-4 at home over the Huskies. The game was a back-and-forth affair with Arcata holding a 1-0 lead before Fortuna plated three runs in the 3rd inning, but the Tigers scored three as well in the bottom of the inning to hop back on top. Arcata scored four in the bottom of the 6th to conclude the scoring and help the Tigers improve to 1-3 in league play.
Both matchups will see doubleheaders on Saturday with McKinleyville and Fortuna serving as the host teams.
The Little 4 matchups will take place on Friday with the
two first place teams, Ferndale and St. Bernard's, both going on the road for doubleheaders Friday. The Crusaders will head to Miranda to face South Fork, who's 2-4 in the Little 4, while the Wildcats head to Hoopa as the Warriors will look to grab their first league win of the season.
Prep softball
The only Big 5 softball game Wednesday was Fortuna versus Arcata, with the Huskies holding on for a 6-3 road win. Fortuna took a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th inning. Arcata scored single runs in each of the 5th, 6th and 7th innings. The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate in the 7th with the bases loaded and one out while trailing 6-2, but Fortuna's right fielder sophomore Olivia Hayes fielded a sharply hit ball and threw to first base in time to get Arcata's freshman Nallia Meyer to record the second out of the inning with a run coming home for the Tigers. Fortuna pitcher sophomore Isabel Sanchez struck out the next batter to end the game, stranding runners at second and third base.
The win moves Fortuna to 4-3 in the Big 5, with both the Huskies and the 2-1 Del Norte Warriors sitting a half-game back of first-place McKinleyville. Del Norte and McKinleyville play at Del Norte on Thursday before a doubleheader in McKinleyville on Saturday. Fortuna will also host a doubleheader Saturday against Arcata.
Softball action in the Little 4 will take place on Friday with Ferndale traveling to Hoopa, where the 4-2 Hoopa Valley Warriors will look to continue their winning ways. The other matchup will be the firstplace St. Bernard's Crusaders heading to South Fork for a doubleheader. St. Bernard's sits a game above Hoopa Valley with the teams set to square off twice next Friday.