Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday’s doubleheader at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — The Panthers escaped with a doubleheader sweep over the Eureka Loggers in softball at McKinleyville on Saturday after a much-improved performance by the visitors.

Just three days after falling 19-3 in the series opener at Eureka, the Loggers dropped Saturday’s opener 6-2 and then fell just short in a 4-3 showdown in game two.

The victories for the Mack girls lifted them to 4-2 in the Big 5 and into a three-way tie for the conference lead, along with the Arcata girls, who had a bye in conference this weekend, and the Del Norte Warriors, who swept a doubleheader against Fortuna.

The Panthers had to battle more than their opponents, with several players sick at the moment and five missing from practice just two days ago.

The McKinleyville girls scored four early runs in game one and held on late thanks to another big performance by sophomore pitcher McKennah Sargent, who allowed just five hits and one walk in seven innings and struck out 14.

Sargent also got the win in the circle in game two, holding a young Loggers lineup to three hits and no walks and striking out six more batters.

“McKennah is our workhorse, and I thought she battled today,” McKinleyville head coach Shanna McCracken said. “It was nice to see. She just always wants the ball.”

Eureka’s Kaitlin Giacone also impressed for the visitors and struck out eight over the two games while walking just three.

Bailee Box also had a big day for the home team and finished with four hits on the day, including three doubles in game one, as well as playing a pivotal role at catcher.

“Bailee Box was awesome behind the plate and had some big hits,” McCracken said. “She’s really coming along and she’s leading by example.”

Hannah McCullough also continued to make some noise at the plate for the home team and had two hits in the opener, including a double, while Liana Stumpf also had a pair of hits.

For Eureka in game one, Giacone finished 2-for-3 with a double, Mallorie Beauchamp was 1-for-3 with a triple and Bailey Brown and Megan Perkins were each 1-for-3 with a double.

Game two went right down to the wire, with the Loggers rallying from a four-run deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh before stranding the tying run at third base to close out the game.

It was an impressive showing for such a young team that is still finding its feet after playing just four games coming into Saturday’s doubleheader.

“Definitely I was really proud of the way they responded (to Wednesday’s big loss),” head coach Cheyenne King said. “They really worked hard the last couple of days.”

Mashell Stumpf led the way at the plate for the Panthers in game two and finished 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

The McKinleyville players impressed their coach in other ways as well.

“I was proud of the adjustment the players made,” McCracken said. “Overall I think they did a good job. Eureka made a lot of adjustments from Wednesday.”

McCracken added, however that this year’s McKinleyville team is also a work in progress, especially in light of the sickness this week.

“Overall, there’s still a lot of things to work on,” McCracken said. “They’re still learning to make adjustments when necessary.”

Giacone continued to impress at the plate in game two and finished 2-for-3, while teammate Kathy Brazil also had a hit.

Both teams also made some outstanding defensive plays on Saturday, including centerfielders Mashell Stumpf, who continues to excel for the Panthers, and Nashya Williams, who made a spectacular inning-ending catch in the third with the bases loaded.

Even more impressive, Williams just moved to the outfield a couple of days ago to see how she might fit in there.

“She just rocked it in practice after she moved there,” King said. “So we said ‘yeah, you’re going out there.’

“Today overall we just really came together, the players were talking to each other and it was a total team effort.”

Liana Stumpf also made some big plays for the home team at shortstop and continues to give her team a reliable glove in the infield.

“Really, all around we’re seeing some good things,” McCracken said.