Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Crusaders

By Ray Hamill — Eureka’s McKenna Beach and St. Bernard’s Aidan Dorsch were among the seniors honored by their respective teams this week, as their high school careers begin to wind down.

Both of them are enjoying impressive final campaigns with their teams and each has played a pivotal role in leading their schools to league titles this week.

All of which makes them this week’s Humboldt Sports Athletes of the Week, sponsored by College of the Redwoods Athletics.

Beach has had an impact on both sides of the plate, hitting a team-best .561 for the Eureka girls — including going 3-for-4 with a double in a league-clinching win against Arcata on Wednesday — as well as setting the tone on defense at catcher.

Dorsch, meanwhile, has been outstanding both on the mound and at the plate for the high-flying Crusaders, who dominated the Little 4 and finished 12-0 on the way to a league title.

And speaking of the league champion Crusaders, they are also our Humboldt Sports Team of the Week.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Aidan Dorsch

St. Bernard’s Baseball, Senior

Dorsch has been one of the key players on the Crusaders’ championship team, batting .500 with 22 RBIs and four home runs.

He has been equally impressive on the mound, going 5-0 with a team-best ERA of 0.45, while striking out 66 batters in 31 innings.

For more on Dorsch, see Crusaders celebrate a ‘special’ senior class as they get set for the playoffs …

McKenna Beach

Eureka Softball, Senior

Beach, who will play at Cal Poly Humboldt after graduation, is batting a team-best .561 for the surging Loggers and is a key reason the team has lost just once in 21 games this spring.

The senior leader also leads the team with four home runs and has 25 RBIs, and she has been a rock on defense while setting the tone for the young players.

Beach and the Loggers will try to clinch the Big 5 title outright when they play at Arcata on Saturday. 

TEAM OF THE WEEK

St. Bernard’s Baseball

No team has dominated in league play this spring the way the Crusaders have, and you get the feeling they’re just getting warmed up with bigger goals ahead.

They have a deep and very experienced senior class leading the way and they will be tough to stop in next week’s Charlie Lakin tournament, as well as in the Division-VI North Coast Section playoffs.

In addition to Dorsch, head coach Matt Tomlin’s team has had huge contributions from several players, including Nick Dugan, Braeden Zimmerman, Cayden Lee, Jeran Ford, Perry Bailey, Tyler Dimmick, Carl Nunes and Drew Vizenor, among many others.