Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Panthers have reason to smile after winning five of their first six conference games.

By Ray Hamill — The next few weeks should be fun for local high school baseball, as the nine H-DNL varsity teams begin to build momentum.

Both conferences remain in the balance halfway through the schedule, with McKinleyville holding a slender one-game lead over Eureka in the Big 5 and Ferndale and St. Bernard’s deadlocked atop the standings in the Little 4.

And both conferences are expected to go down to the final day.

But so far, it’s safe to say the McKinleyville boys are the team to beat.

The Panthers took two of three games against Eureka last week to leave them with a one-game lead in the standings and they are arguably playing the most complete baseball of any local team right now.

The Panthers’ pitching has been very good, as has their defense, which has been consistent, while the bats are starting to come around and that makes them a tough challenge for any opponent.

But the Loggers are right in the mix and have plenty of talent themselves.

The biggest problem for the Eureka boys so far has probably been their lack of game time, but if they get on a roll they could be in position to capitalize on any McKinleyville setbacks.

It’s difficult to see any other team winning this year’s Big 5 title other than McKinleyville or Eureka, but then again stranger things have happened.

A young Arcata Tigers team, meanwhile, has had to replace a lot of key players from last year’s North Coast Section championship roster, and too many mistakes have cost them in a series of close games.

They dropped all three conference matchups against Eureka recently by a combined four runs.

Head coach Troy Ghisetti is as adept as any coach in the H-DNL at getting his players to improve as the season progresses, but they face an uphill battle to compete for a league title after dropping their first three B5 games.

The Ferndale Wildcats, meanwhile, have arguably been the story of the season so far in the H-DNL and are well positioned to challenge for the Little 4 championship.

Head coach Justin Andersen is one of the best coaches in the H-DNL and he has a talented roster playing with a lot of belief right now.

The Wildcats have already taken two of three games against St. Bernard’s, while also knocking off Fortuna in thrilling fashion and tying Arcata.

They will face off against Fortuna a second time on Monday, and if they continue to take care of business in the Little 4, the conference looks likely to go down to the final day of action when the Cats play St. Bernard’s in a doubleheader at Ferndale.

Similar to Arcata, the Fortuna Huskies also have had to replace a lot of players from last year’s history-making Big 5 and Charles Lakin tournament double championship winning squad.

And that has led to some inconsistency, although when they’re on they’re a tough team to beat.

The same goes for St. Bernard’s, although the Crusaders have found some rhythm in the Little 4 after a tough pre-conference that saw them win just one of their first eight games.

BASEBALL POWER RANKINGS

1 — McKinleyville 

The Panthers are playing complete baseball right now

2 — Eureka

The Loggers are still well in the mix for a conference championship 

3 — Arcata

Fundamental mistakes are proving costly for the Tigers

4 — Ferndale

The Wildcats have lost just once all season

5T — St. Bernard’s 

The Crusaders have won six of their last eight games

5T — Fortuna 

A Big 5 title might be out of reach, but the Huskies are still dangerous on their day