File photo – The Ferndale Wildcats

The Hoopa Warriors swept a Little 4 softball doubleheader at Ferndale on Wednesday to set up a top-of-the-standings showdown against St. Bernard’s on Friday.

The Hoopa girls took a closely-fought opener 6-5 and followed that with a more comfortable 15-5 victory in game two.

With the two wins, the Warriors improved to 3-1 in the Little 4 to keep pressure on the Crusaders, who have won all four of their conference games so far.

Monteya Colegrove got the win in the circle in game one and she struck out seven and walked two.

She also got plenty of help from a Hoopa offense that racked up 13 hits, including a 3-for-4 game for Bella Valentine, who had three doubles.

Millenia McKindley also had a good game at the plate and finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, while Ki-San Dean was 2-for-3 and Rianna Bain and Ava Jackson each was 2-for-4.

Rikki Lipscomb also had a double, while Brooklyn Kurtz added a hit.

The Wildcats also made some noise at the plate in the loss, with five different players combining for nine hits, including Madison Gossi, who went 3-for-4 to lead the way.

Her sister Olivia Gossi also had a good game at the plate and finished 2-for-4, while Rainy Rodriguez was 2-for-4 and Alayna Cooney went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.

Tinnley Pidgeon also was 1-for-4.

Game two, however, would get away from the home team.

Hoopa’s Roxy Colegrove struck out six and walked two on her way to the win in the circle, while the Hoopa bats continued to impress with 14 more hits, led by Jackson, who finished 4-for-5 to cap a very good day.

Bain also continued to impress and was 2-for-3 with a double, while Valentine was 2-for-4 with a double and Sky Andreoli was 2-for-2.

Lipscomb, McKindley, Jaiden Kurtz and Kalia Mitchell each also had a base hit in the win.

The Wildcats had six hits in the loss, as they fell to 1-5 in the Little 4 halfway through conference play.

“We need to cut out the mental mistakes and tighten up our defense a little bit,” Ferndale head coach Jeremy Griffith said. “We let it get away from us, especially the second game.”

A young Ferndale lineup, however, continues to hit the ball pretty well.

Pidgeon and Yajaira Cantu-Mendez each finished 2-for-3 in the loss, while Madison Gossi and Danica Dowd each also had a hit.