Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday’s game at Arcata.

The Fortuna girls are making a habit of playing in close and exciting games this year.

But that’s not always a good thing.

On Wednesday, they traveled to Arcata for a Big 5 showdown and it was a game that ended up being closer than it probably should have been, thanks in part to a late Tigers rally and thanks in part to some late Fortuna miscues.

But the important thing for the Huskies is they were able to hold on for a 6-3 win and keep their championship hopes alive.

They took control of the game early with three runs in the first two innings, while sophomore pitcher Isabel Sanchez continued to impress in the circle and had a no-hitter and a four-run lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Back-to-back singles by Abby Tyner and Jenna Renteria, however, finally put the home team on the board and cut the deficit to three with two innings remaining.

Arcata added another run in the sixth, but Fortuna responded with two more runs in the top of the seventh to widen the lead back to four.

An exciting finish saw the home team load the bases on two walks and a hit batsman in the bottom of the seventh, and they would add a third run before Sanchez struck out the next batter to end the game.

“We had our chances but let this one slip through out finger tips,” Arcata head coach Steve Sarchett said. “We rallied late but came up short.”

With the win, the Huskies improved to 4-3 in the Big 5, while the Tigers dropped to 2-2.

Evalynn Little and Kadence Mace led the Huskies at the plate.

Little was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. while Mace was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Olivia Hayes also had a good day at the plate for the visitors and finished 2-for-4, while Mariah Bravo was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Harmoni Linares was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Fortuna catcher Faith Helms had a good day on both sides of the plate, finishing 1-for-3 with an RBI on offense, while also throwing out an attempted base stealer and initiating several outs on the base paths with accurate pickoff throws.

Arcata’s Peyton Miller and Aria Soberanis helped key the late rally with back-to-back triples for their team’s second run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Sanchez pitched a complete game for the win and struck out 11 while allowing just four hits, but she also had three walks and four hit batsmen.

“I think their pitcher did a good job,” Sarchett said of the Fortuna sophomore. “Her rise seemed to be jumping up in the zone.

“Fortuna is a formidable opponent, but we hung in there with them.”

After winning just one game all of last season, a young Tigers team is showing plenty of fight this spring and continues to make life difficult for opponents.

“The team should feel this one today,” Sarchett added. “They learned a little more and really that’s all we can ask.”

The two schools will close out a three-game series with a doubleheader at Fortuna on Saturday.

A scheduled game between Del Norte and McKinleyville in Crescent City was postponed until Thursday because of a track meet at Del Norte on Wednesday.