File photo – The Ferndale Wildcats improved to 4-0 in the Little 4 with a doubleheader sweep at South Fork on Monday.

The Ferndale Wildcats moved into a tie with St. Bernard’s atop the Little 4 baseball standings with a doubleheader sweep at South Fork on Monday.

The high-flying Cats, who remain unbeaten on the season, racked up 32 runs in the two games, winning 17-6 and 15-3 in six innings and improving to 4-0 in conference and 8-0-1 overall.

The Ferndale boys had to rally for the win in game one after trailing 5-4 going into the sixth inning, but they scored 13 runs in the final two innings to take a comfortable victory.

Prescott Langer got there start on the mound and pitched well enough to keep his team in the game, before Parker Prior got another win in relief thanks to the late rally on offense.

“Our pitching was effective,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “Prescott kept us in the game. He probably didn’t have his best stuff, but it was good enough to keep us in the game.”

The Cats hit two home runs in the win, including a seventh-inning grand slam by Trent Titus, who finished 2-for-4 and scored four runs.

Levi Dixon also was 2-for-4 with a home run and had three RBIs.

Chris Pedaris continued to impress for the home team and finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run, while Wesley Way went 2-for-4 and Justin Freitas was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

“The wheels just seemed to fall off,” South Fork head coach Chris Contreras said of the late letdown.

Dixon capped a good all-around day for the Wildcats in game two, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs and also getting the victory on the mound.

Titus, Prior, Austin Michel, Jonah Anderson, Jarrett Smith and Thomas Fergison each also had a base hit in the win.

“I felt like Levi pitched well and we did what we needed to do,” Andersen said. “Obviously we’ve still got another big challenge (against St. Bernard’s) at the end of the week.

“I’m pleased with where we’re at and I’m looking forward to seeing where this team goes.”

Trevor Hunt provided the offensive highlight of the second game for the home team, finishing 1-for-2 with a home run, while Shevy Bero-Van Meter was 1-for-2 with a double and a run and Makani Buck-Zulim was 1-for-2 with a run.

File photo

Inconsistency within games, however, continues to plague the Cubs.

“It seems like we just haven’t been able to string a bunch of hits together to produce runs,” Contreras said. “It seems like my kids are really into the moment for three or four innings and then things fall off.”

The South Fork pitching also “seemed a little off in both games,” according to the coach.

“The kids were out of the zone,” Contreras added. “It just feels like if we can pound the zone and make the other team put the ball in play we have a good chance with our defense.”

With the losses, the South Fork boys dropped to 0-4 in the Little 4 and 4-6 overall.

They will try to get back to winning ways in a single game at Lower Lake on Wednesday, before resuming the Little 4 in a doubleheader at Hoopa on Friday.

“I’m hoping my kids are going to be resilient and they bounce back from this,” Contreras said. 

The Wildcats, meanwhile, will play a pivotal doubleheader at St. Bernard’s on Friday afternoon, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.