Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka pitcher Hayden Bode

By Ray Hamill — The Eureka Eagles 17U looked like they were a team on a mission over the final two weeks of the season, on their way to an American Legion state championship at Yountville on Sunday.

There were at least two major factors that drove them on.

One, after finishing second in state in each of the past two summers, several of the players were extra motivated to not lose out again.

And two, their back-to-back losses to county rivals the Northern Humboldt Giants at the District Tournament two weeks ago served as a bit of a wake-up call for the Eureka players.

“You can’t play afraid of losing,” said assistant coach Jason Gable, whose players let the district title slip away with those losses. “I think we learned that you can’t play scared.”

The Eagles didn’t lose the rest of the way, defeating the same Giants for both the Area and State titles on consecutive weekends.

“Other than that two-game stretch, they’ve been playing really well,” Gable said.

Experience key

A busy summer that saw the Eagles play 43 games since the beginning of June came to an end on Sunday with a 7-4 win over the Giants for the state title.

And winning was particularly gratifying for a group of players that fell just shy a year ago, an experience that head coach Dan Joyner believes helped his team this year.

“We talked about that, and how we had left some unfinished business from last year,” he said. “And that was a goal we set out to accomplish.”

The Eagles succeeded with a balanced roster of players, made up of all-stars from both Eureka High and St. Bernard’s.

And the team chemistry was evident from the start.

“The combination of putting the two schools together with kids that absolutely love the game, it was good cohesion,” Joyner said.

Many of the players have been playing side by side since their days with the Renegades, a youth travel team, and this year’s championship is really a culmination of their many summers together.

That and their love for the game.

“They just want to be out there,” Gable said. “They want to compete. They want to win. We started on the first week of June, and they’ve wanted to be there every day.”

Special occasion

The experience of playing in Yountville in front of the veterans every day was also a special one for the players.

“The atmosphere there is an awesome situation,” Joyner said. “They get to play in front of the veterans every day, and after every game they go up and shake their hands and thank them for their sacrifice.”

And the head coach believes the best is yet to come from this team.

“We had really good pitching, and the defense played stellar, and we hit the ball well too,” Dan Joyner said. “These kids, if they stay together and continue to play, I think there’s better things to come from this group.”