Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Eureka Loggers

By Ray Hamill — Two local standouts in softball and baseball have begun the new season every bit as impressively as anticipated, as has one local softball team in particular.

And that gets them the nod for our athletes and team of the week, sponsored by College of the Redwoods Athletics.

At St. Bernard’s, senior Nick Dugan has been everything expected and more and was huge once again this week in leading the Crusaders to a big 4-3 win over Arcata, while holding the high-octane Tigers bats in check for much of the game.

We all knew Dugan would be a force on the mound this spring, but he has been equally impressive at the plate.

Over in Hoopa, meanwhile, another senior has started the season in dominating fashion in the pitcher’s circle and at the plate.

Savannah Colegrove, who played a key role in leading the Warriors to a North Coast Section championship in 2019 as a freshman, has her team on course for another huge season and was named MVP at the Trinity tournament over the week.

The Eureka Loggers softball team also has lived up to its billing as Big 5 favorite early in the season and the Loggers kept rolling with five wins in six games over the past week, improving to 9-1

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Nick Dugan

St. Bernard’s Baseball, Senior

Dugan, who is one of the top baseball prospects in all of California, has started the season on fire.

He is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.41, while allowing just one earned run on eight hits in four appearances, and has struck out 41 batters and walked just six.

Just as impressive, the senior leads his team with three home runs and 11 RBIs and has an outstanding .682 batting average.

The frightening thing for the Crusaders’ opponents is that Dugan should only get better as the season progresses.

Savannah Colegrove

Hoopa Softball, Senior

Similar to Dugan, Colegrove has been on fire early in the new season and capped a big two days at the Trinity Tournament by being named tourney MVP.

Colegrove pitched two of her team’s three wins, as the Warriors defeated Modoc (12-2), Redding Christian (27-0) and Trinity (17-2).

Against Trinity, she finished with seven strikeouts and no walks, while also going 2-for-2 at the plate with a triple, a double and a pair of walks.

She also struck out 10 against Modoc, while hitting one her team’s four home runs in the victory, and was was 3-for-6 with two doubles against Redding Christian.

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend for the senior standout, and she also should only get better as the season progresses.

For more on Colegrove and the Hoopa girls’ big weekend, see Slowly waking the beast, Hoopa Warriors continue to roll with tourney win …

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Eureka Softball

The Loggers continued to roll this week with five more wins as they improved to 9-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big 5.

Even an extra-innings loss to McKinleyville on Friday evening can’t take from what has been an outstanding start to the season for the Eureka girls.

This past week, in addition to taking two of three games in their league-opening series against Mack, the Eureka girls won the Crusader Classic championship with three shutouts in three games.

While senior McKenna Beach and junior Kira Morris have led the way, head coach Robin Johnson and her assistant coaches have a plethora of talented weapons to choose from, including players like Maeghan Hampton, Payton Goodman, Claire Maples, Kaitlin Giacone, Zia Gee, Mallorie Beauchamp, Mariah Napoleon and Taliyah Cooper, among others.

For more on the Loggers’ big week, see A good weekend for the Loggers in softball and baseball …