Submitted photo – Nick Parker delivers a pitch for the Arcata Tigers on Saturday.

By Ray Hamill — The Fortuna Huskies got the Big 5 off to a good start in baseball last week and won all three of their games against Del Norte.

This week, however, they will be tested against an Arcata team that is now 8-1 on the season after sweeping two games at Middletown on Saturday.

The high-scoring Tigers won 13-6 and 11-0 and have now outscored their opponents 100-14 in their nine games this season, remarkably scoring in double digits in seven of them.

The Tigers will be playing their league openers.

The Huskies, who are 10-2 and also have impressed through the early going, will open the series on Wednesday, before hosting two games to close out the series on Saturday.

Wednesday’s game will be played at McKinleyville High and is set for 4 p.m.

Also in action this week, Del Norte will play McKinleyville as both schools look to bounce from a disappointing 0-3 start to league play.

The Warriors will host a single game between the two schools on Wednesday, before traveling to Mack for a Saturday doubleheader.

Co-league leader Eureka, which is 3-0 after sweeping the Panthers last week, has a bye this week.

In the Little 4, the Ferndale Wildcats (2-2) will play two games at Hoopa (0-4) on Saturday, while league leader St. Bernard’s will take a break from conference play, with the Crusaders traveling to play teams from all across the country at the prestigious Wolves Classic in Arizona, which begins on Thursday.

In other non-league action on Tuesday, Ferndale will play a doubleheader at Potter Valley and South Fork will play two games at Point Arena.

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – McKinleyville’s Allie Egbert and her teammates will play three games against Del Norte this week.

SOFTBALL

The Del Norte Warriors are off to a 3-0 start in the Big 5 and will try to keep their unbeaten run going in a three-game series against the McKinleyville Panthers (1-2 in league play), who ended the Eureka girls’ long winning streak in extra innings on Friday.

The Warriors will host Wednesday’s series opener at 4 p.m., before traveling to play two at Mack High on Friday.

Arcata (0-0) and Fortuna (0-3) will also play three games this week, opening at Arcata High on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., and concluding with a Saturday doubleheader in Fortuna on Saturday.

Little 4 co-leader Hoopa (2-0) will host Ferndale (0-2) in a league doubleheader on Saturday, after traveling to Eureka for a very intriguing non-league showdown between two of the top teams in the H-DNL on Tuesday at 4 p.m., weather permitting.

The Eureka girls are 2-1 in the Big 5 and will have a league bye this week.

St. Bernard’s also is 2-0 in the Little 4 and will try to keep the momentum going in a doubleheader at South Fork this weekend.