File photo – The Arcata Tigers

Bring on the Big 5.

The Arcata Tigers closed out their pre-conference schedule in the third-place game at the Al Rabinovitz baseball tournament at Montgomery on Wednesday, losing 8-4 to the host school.

The Arcata boys faced some tough competition at the two-day tourney, going 0-2-1, and head coach Troy Ghisetti is hoping the experience will benefit his players when they open conference play at Eureka next Wednesday.

“It got us ready to play the H-DNL,” the long-time coach said. “Everybody was very competitive. We were challenged all the way through.”

The Tigers, however, still have plenty to work on before they face off against the Loggers in a key three-game series next week.

They racked up 14 hits against Montgomery, but it was a far-from-perfect performance and they put themselves sin an early hole by giving up seven runs in the opening inning.

“We out-hit Montgomery, we just made some key errors that cost us seven runs in the first,” Ghisetti said. “But the kids didn’t get down. They continued to battle.”

Finn Warner and Anthony Ebert led the way at the plate and both finished 3-for-4.

The hard-hitting Ebert, who had two extra-base hits in a doubleheader on Tuesday, had two more doubles on Wednesday, while Warner added one.

Ben Lukens and Jonah O’Brien each also had a good day at the plate and finished 2-for-3, while Tanner Kees was 2-for-5.

Alex Greenway and freshman Canyon Martin each added a hit in the loss.

Kees got the start on the mound and took the loss, allowing two earned runs in five innings while walking two and striking out four.

The Tigers, who dropped to 4-3-2, had opportunities to close the early deficit but left the bases loaded twice.

“We just couldn’t get the key hit,” Ghisetti said.