Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – St. Bernard’s Michael Manzi delivers a pitch during Thursday’s doubleheader.

South Fork’s Justin Freitas has been one of the most impressive players in H-DNL baseball early in the new season, but he suffered a bizarre loss in the Cubs’ Little 4 opener on Thursday.

Playing at St. Bernard’s, Freitas held the Crusaders hitless for 6.2 innings in game one of a doubleheader, but took the loss on the mound, as the home team won 6-1.

St. Bernard’s would secure the sweep with a 4-3 win in game two to go to 2-0 in the Little 4.

Freitas gave up 10 walks in game one, including five in the opening inning, as the home team rallied from an early one-run deficit with four runs in the bottom half of the first.

The Crusaders also stole nine bases on their way to the win.

Michael Manzi pitched six solid innings for the victory on the mound and struck out eight, with Tyler Hinrichs striking out three in the final inning to seal the win.

Chris Pedaris pitched the final out for the Cubs and also finished 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk as he continues to impress this season.

His teammate Luke Genolio went 1-for-3 with a double, while Trevor Hunt was 1-for-3.

Game two was an entertaining showdown and a game the visitors will feel got away from them.

With the impressive Genolio in control on the hill, South Fork led 3-0 going into the fifth inning before a late rally by the home team.

TC Rinker and Dylan Jimenez both had big two-out RBI hits to help spark the comeback and the Crusaders stole five more bases in the win, giving them 14 on the day.

St. Bernard’s Luke Brunton was, in the words of head coach Matt Tomlin, “brilliant in relief,” throwing five innings of one-hit baseball for the win and striking out seven.

Justin Freitas delivers a pitch for South Fork.

Broc Contreras finished 1-for-3 with a walk and scored two runs for the Cubs, while Travis “T-Bone” Way finished 1-for-1 with a pair of walks.

Genolio threw six innings on 84 pitches and allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out two.

With the sweep, the defending Little 4 champs improved to 4-6-1 overall.

The Cubs dropped to 0-2 in the Little 4 and 4-4 overall.

“Hats off to St. Bernard’s for executing and taking advantage of our walks and errors,” said South Fork head coach Chris Contreras, who also paid tribute to his own players for not going down without a fight.