What a week for the H-DN, with seven teams still battling

By barstoolfanatics on May 20, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Anthony Ebert in action during Saturday’s playoff game against Healdsburg.

By Ray Hamill — It has been a very impressive week for the H-DN in the North Coast Section baseball and softball playoffs, with seven of the 14 teams to qualify still alive after the first week of action.

Friday’s and Saturday’s results mean at least one local team will win an NCS title this spring — in Division-6 baseball — stretching the league’s streak of at least one NCS champion in either baseball or softball to 21 straight postseasons and dating all the way back to 2000.

The league is still in contention for a possible four of the 12 total section championships this spring.

After winning their semifinals on Saturday, St. Bernard’s and Ferndale will play in the Division-6 baseball decider, while five other H-DN teams get set to compete in midweek semifinals, including an all-local Division-4 showdown between the Arcata and Del Norte boys on Wednesday.

We could see a second all-local championship showdown if Fortuna and Del Norte are victorious in separate Division-4 softball semifinals.

Interestingly, six of the 10 local teams in action this weekend had their games decided by just one run.

On Friday, the Fortuna girls won an exciting all-local showdown against Hoopa in Division 4 by a score of 2-1, while the Eureka girls won 7-6 at Moreau Catholic in Division 3, and the St. Bernard’s girls lost a close one at Head-Royce, 5-4 in Division 5.

The excitement continued on Saturday with the Ferndale boys edging San Domenico 6-5 in Division 6 and the Del Norte boys winning 5-4 at St. Joseph Notre Dame in Division 4.

Also in Division 6, the St. Bernard’s boys won 7-1 at home to Point Arena, while in Division 4 the Arcata boys won 6-2 at home to Healdsburg and the Fortuna boys fell 5-2 at home to Piedmont.

The seven local teams still playing represent six different schools, with Del Norte the only H-DN school still in contention in both baseball and softball.

Six of the seven teams will also play their next game here on the North Coast, with the Fortuna girls being the one exception and traveling to Cardinal Newman in Santa Rosa for their semifinal.