Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka’s Kira Morris shares a laugh with head coach Robin Johnson during Wednesday’s game at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — There are good weeks and there are really good weeks, and when the latter rolls around it’s a whole lot easier to pick our Athletes and Team of the Week.

This week, it was an easy choice for both athletes and our team, which three performances that would be hard to beat in any week.

And in three different sports, no less.

Our first athlete of the week award goes to Eureka’s Kira Morris, who is already enjoying a monster season in softball and has started the Big 5 playing at an MVP level.

Morris was sensational in a three-game sweep of Arcata last week and carried that form into a series opener at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

And she has been equally effective at the plate, in the circle and fielding her position.

In four league games, the senior standout is 11-for-15 with three home runs, two triples and three doubles.

In the circle, she has pitched all four wins for her team, while striking out 35 batters and allowing just eight hits.

College of the Redwoods sophomore Hannah Hartwell has been equally impressive this spring while starring for the Corsairs track and field team.

The defending state champion in the women’s 5K broke a pair of her own school records in the 800 meters and 5K at the Mike Fanelli Classic at San Francisco State last weekend.

Hartwell has the fastest JC time in the nation in the 5K this spring and the fastest 800m time in the state.

Our team of the week, meanwhile, is the high-flying Fortuna baseball team.

The Huskies come into the weekend riding a three-game winning streak in the Big 5, including a couple of monster wins at McKinleyville last Saturday to kickstart their season.

A big day at the plate saw the Fortuna boys explode for 38 runs in a pair of wins against the Panthers, and they followed that with a 6-0 victory at Del Norte on Wednesday.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Kira Morris

Eureka Softball, Senior

Morris has been a force for the Loggers in just about every facet of the game and appears to be getting stronger as the season progresses.

If she continues to perform at this level, the Loggers will be hard to stop, after an impressive 4-0 start to league play.

For more on her big week, see Morris leads the way in league-opening series sweep …

Submitted photo – Hannah Hartwell

Hannah Hartwell

College of the Redwoods, Track and Field

Hartwell is well on track to repeat as a state champion this spring as she continues to rewrite the College of the Redwoods record books.

Has there ever been a better distance runner in Humboldt County?

Certainly not at CR.

And she’s not done yet.

For more on her big week, see Record-breaking Hartwell and the Corsairs continue to impress …

Cole Ayala is greeted by Cody Collins and his teammates after hitting a three-run home run at McKinleyville last Saturday.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Fortuna Baseball

The Big 5 is on alert after last weekend’s big showing by the Huskies in their doubleheader sweep.

Several players stepped up at the plate on the way to 31 base hits over the two games, including five home runs, two of which were grand slams.

They followed that on Wednesday with a different kind of win, taking advantage of 16 free passes by an error prone Del Norte team in a shutout victory.

Time will tell if they can keep this up, but it’s been a very impressive start to league play for the Fortuna boys.

For more on their big week, see Huskies win big with statement sweep at McKinleyville …