File photo – Fortuna’s Isabel Sanchez

There may be a new favorite in Big 5 softball.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Huskies took over sole possession of top spot in the conference standings with an impressive 5-4 win over Del Norte at Fortuna.

And while there’s a long way to go just yet, it was a statement victory for the Fortuna girls against the defending conference champs and a team many people viewed as favorites to win this year’s title.

The one-run game was the third in four conference showdowns for the Fortuna girls, who improved to 3-1 in the Big 5 and 8-3 overall.

Also in action on Wednesday, the McKinleyville Panthers bounced back from a Tuesday loss to the Huskies with a comfortable 19-3 win in five innings at Eureka.

The Panthers are now 2-2 in conference, while the Loggers fell to 1-3.

At Fortuna, the Huskies wasted little time taking control of their game, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning to open up a 2-0 lead.

Standout sophomore Isabel Sanchez, who has been one of the most dangerous players in the H-DNL through the early season, led off with a single, advanced to third on a wild pitch and an error, and then scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Kadence Mace.

Freshman Evalynn Little then hit a booming double to right center and scored moments later on a Myra Hayes single.

The Warriors quickly responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second.

Shay Nolan opened her team’s account when she drove in Lauren Stutes, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch, and moments later Tsinte Steinruck scored after an errant pick off throw.

The Huskies, however, would re-take the lead in the bottom of the third on a two-run Mace home run over the left center field.

But the Warriors weren’t done yet and continued to battle in what was a back-and-forth game.

File photo – Kaitlin Giacone

They narrowed the gap to one in the top of the fifth when McKenna Curtis drove in Reece White from third base with a sacrifice fly to right field. 

Once again, the Huskies responded immediately to open up a 5-3 lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Olivia Hayes led off with a walk and quickly advanced to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch, before reaching home plate on Evalynn Little’s third hit of the day.

An exiting game, however, would go right down to the wire and the Del Norte girls battled all the way to the end.

They narrowed the gap again in the top of the seventh.

Carlee Harper led off with a base hit and stole her way to second, before being brought home on an Audrey Phillips base hit.

Through the opening few days of conference play little has come easy for any of the Big 5 teams and that would be the case once again in this exciting showdown.

The Warriors had the tying run at second with no outs in the seventh, only for Sanchez to retire the next three batters to seal the win.

The standout sophomore pitched a complete game for the victory, allowing five hits and four walks and striking out five.

Nolan took the loss for the Del Norte girls, who have dropped four of their last five games and are 0-1 in the Big 5 and 7-5 overall.

File photo – The Fortuna Huskies

In addition to her home run, Mace also had an RBI sacrifice fly and finish with three RBIs, while Little was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Sanchez was 2-for-4.

Olivia Hayes was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, Myra Hayes was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Mariah Bravo was 1-for-3.

Harper went 2-for-4 for Del Norte, while Phillips was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Nolan was 1-for-3 with an RBI. 

The two teams will close out their three-game series with a doubleheader in Crescent City on Saturday.

At Washington Elementary, meanwhile, the Panthers bounce back from a Tuesday loss to Fortuna with a comprehensive win over the Loggers.

The visitors led 5-2 going into the fourth but blew the game open with eight runs in the inning and added six more in the fifth.

The Mack bats racked up 13 hits and eight walks and were led by Bailee Box, Liana Stumpf and Jessie Driggs, who each had three hits.

All three of Stumpf’s hits were doubles and she also had two RBIs and two runs, while Box had a double and drove in four runs and scored three, and Driggs scored three runs.

Mashell Stumpf threw 4.2 innings for the win and struck out 11.

McKennah Sargent added two hits in the win, while Leah Circe and Hannah McCullough each had one as the Mack girls improved to 6-6 overall.

It was a tough day for the Loggers, although there were some bright spots.

Senior Kaitlin Giacone and freshman Mackenzie Wolff split time in the circle but did not get a lot of offensive support.

The Loggers had their chances but were unable to plate runs when the opportunities arose and stranded numerous runners.

Giacone struck out six in three innings, and, according to the Eureka coaches, both pitchers embraced the challenge despite the team’s struggles and the players stayed positive.

“They both still wanted to be out there,” assistant coach Billy Morris said of the pitchers. “That’s class.”

Giacone also made some noise at the plate and finished 2-for-2 with a walk, while teammate Bailey Brown was 1-for-2 with a walk.

The two teams will conclude their three-game series at McKinleyville on Saturday.