Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from this week’s All-Star tournament in Cutten.

By Ray Hamill — The Eel River Little League All-Stars have set up a rematch against McKinleyville in the 8-9-10 District 26 tournament championship round on Thursday night.

The game will take place at the Redwood Fields in Cutten and first pitch is set for 6 p.m.

The seven-team double-elimination District tournament has been going since Saturday and is now down to the final two teams.

A win for McKinleyville on Thursday will secure the tournament championship, while a victory for Eel River will set up a winner-takes-all showdown between the two teams on Friday night.

The two teams faced off on Sunday, with McKinleyville winning 9-5.

The Eel River players, however, have battled back with three straight elimination game victories to keep their hopes of a championship alive, including a big win over Redwood Empire on Wednesday night.

In opening round games, Eel River defeated Klamath Trinity 17-4, Redwood Empire defeated Blue Lake 22-5 and Southern Humboldt beat Arcata 16-1.

In other tournament games, Redwood Empire defeated Southern Humboldt 10-0 before losing to McKinleyville in the winners bracket on Tuesday.

In elimination games this week, Blue Lake defeated Arcata 24-17, Klamath Trinity defeated Southern Humboldt 11-0, Eel River defeated Blue Lake 23-2 and Eel River defeated Klamath Trinity 17-7.

In other local All-Star action, the Eel River 11s were crowned District 26 champions with a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Redwood Empire in Tuesday’s championship game (we’ll have more on that later).

The 12-year-olds All-Star tournament begins on Saturday in Arcata.