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

The McKinleyville Panthers took another big step towards a Big 5 championship with a 7-5 win over the Arcata Tigers on Wednesday, but the celebrations will have to wait as the Eureka Loggers kept pressure on the frontrunners with a 7-5 win at Del Norte.

It was senior day for the Panthers, who honored an impressive class of four — Tenoch Tapia, Evan Fraser, Branson Dobrec and Tyson Bragg — all of whom have played a key role for the program for the past few years and all of whom were involved in Wednesday’s win.

With the victory, the McKinleyville boys improved to 9-1 in the Big 5 with two games remaining and they clinch at least a share of the championship with a win in Saturday’s doubleheader at Arcata, or they can claim it outright with a pair of wins.

But they had to battle on Wednesday.

After opening up a sizable 7-1 lead with five runs in the fourth inning, the home team appeared to be cruising towards victory before the Tigers came storming back with four runs of their own in the sixth to make for an exciting finish.

“You can never underestimate Arcata,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “You’ve got to tip your cap to them. We were cruising 7-1 and the next thing you know we were in a dog fight.

“But you’ve got to give the kids a lot of credit for hanging in there and weathering the storm and getting the W.”

Kolbey Stolpe helped settle his team down after taking over on the mound in relief in the sixth inning, and the Panthers got out of a bases-loaded jam with a brilliant pick off at second base when Stolpe threw to shortstop Bryce Sargent for the final out of the inning.

Even more impressive, this was Stolpe’s first appearance on the hill since the opening week of the season.

“Fo him to come in and do that, that was big,” Dobrec said. “That’s just the type of player he is.”

Evan Fraser got the start on the mound for the home team and continued to impress on his way to a fifth league win.

Fraser gave up just two hits and struck out six in five innings, before freshman Joe Tanno took over.

Seven different McKinleyville players combined for eight team hits, including Tapia, who led the way at the plate on senior day and went 2-for-2.

Jackson Kelly, Stolpe and Bragg each also had a hit and an RBI, while Sargent, Hunter Carper and Branson Dobrec each added a hit.

Eli Greenway led the Tigers at the plate and was 2-for-3, while his brother Alex Greenway was 1-for-2 with a double.

Tanner Kees, Anthony Ebert and Finn Warner each also had a hit to round out a six-hit day for the team.

Ben Lukens pitched 6.2 innings and took the loss despite another strong performance on the mound.

Lukens walked two and struck out five, before Jonah O’Brien came in to close out the game.

But being unable to capitalize more in their high scoring sixth proved costly for the visitors.

“I think it was our whole season in a synopsis,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said of the inning. “We get the bases loaded and we’ve got some things going and then we get back picked at second base.

“We had a couple of base running errors that could have tacked on runs, but ultimately McKinleyville played good defense and got the key hits when necessary.”

Mike Dobrec was happy with his team’s effort.

“Overall it was a good team win for us,” he said. “We’re starting to hit our stride and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The McKinleyville coach also paid tribute to the four seniors, each of whom has been with the varsity team for four years.

“They all played a big part (today),” he said. “They’re a good group. They’re all four-year lettermen, they’re all leaders and they’ve all had a lot of success, and we’re still writing their story.

“They’ve meant a lot to the program and they’re all four good kids. It was good to celebrate it with a win.”

Up in Crescent City, meanwhile, the Loggers took care of business to keep pressure on the Big 5 leaders.

And they also had to battle, overcoming an early 5-2 deficit on the way to the win.

Cole Zellar continued his impressive spring with a 3-for-5 day and also drove in two runs and scored one.

Jesse Vasquez also made some noise at the plate and went 2-for-3 with a run, while Jadyn Payton and Sebastian Standish each was 1-for-4, with the latter also driving in a run.

Royce Olson also drove in a run.

Four pitchers — Olson, Standish, Cooper Ohlsen and Ty Crawford — combined on the mound, with Standish throwing three innings for the win.

The game was the first for the Loggers in two weeks, which may explain the sluggish start.

“I think we were a little slow out of the gates, and I think that was a little to be expected,” Eureka head coach Tommy Gale said. “But we got it going.”

Stranding runners on base has been a problem for the Loggers this season, but they did a better job of taking advantage of their opportunities on Wednesday.

“I think we capitalized a few times today and were able to put up some runs,” Gale said. “And I think the pitching was the story again. All four guys did their job and it was very much a team win.”

Saxon Taylor led the Warriors at the plate and finished 3-for-4, but unlike the Loggers they continued to strand too many runners with eight left on base on Wednesday.

“Wild pitches and passed balls killed us,” said head coach Jeff Cook, who added “That’s usually not a problem.”

The Loggers also had six stolen bases, which also is not something the Warriors have allowed too much this year.