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

The Del Norte Warriors took over sole possession of top spot in Big 5 softball with a dominating 10-0 win over Eureka in five innings in Crescent City on Wednesday.

With the win, the Warriors improved to 5-2 in conference and moved ahead of the chasing pack, with Fortuna (6-3) dropping to second despite not playing.

The McKinleyville girls also remain in the hunt for a conference crown after beating rivals Arcata 6-3 at Mack High and improving to 6-4.

With Wednesday’s results, the top three teams are all well on course to qualify for the Charles Lakin H-DNL postseason tournament.

Shay Nolan got the win in the pitcher’s circle for Del Norte after giving up just two hits in a five-inning complete game.

Nolan was efficient with her pitches and struck out five, while letting her defense do a lot of the work behind her.

Audrey Phillips had a big day on offense for the Warriors and finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while McKenna Curtis and Carlee Harper each also remained hot at the plate as they continue their impressive spring.

Curtis went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Harper was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

“Shay had a lot of ground balls and let her defense play,” Del Norte head coach Aaron Healy said. “Batting wise, we all put the bat on the ball and got the job done.”

Shortstop Khloe Smith set the tone on defense and made multiple key plays.

“She made it look pretty easy,” Healy added.

Bailey Brown (1-for-1) and Jaycee Childress (1-for-2) had the only hits of the day for a young Eureka team, which dropped to 1-6 in the Big 5.

“Del Norte played great and definitely capitalized on some of our errors,” Eureka head coach Cheyenne King said. 

Freshman Violla Kingsang made the defensive play of the game for the visitors with a great catch in center field before relaying the ball to shortstop on the way to making a play at home plate.

At McKinleyville, meanwhile, the Panthers scored six early ruins and made it count on the way to a victory over their biggest rivals.

Senior Leah Circe had a big game on senior day, both at second base and at the plate and was named McKinleyville’s player of the game.

“Leah Circe was awesome today,” her head coach Shanna McCracken said. “She was 2-for-2 and got on base all four times, and she played a good second base and was aggressive on the bases.”

The senior standout also drove in a pair of runs.

Bailee Box and McKennah Sargent also impressed and each finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, including a double by Box.

Liana Stumpf also made some noise at the plate and was 1-for-3 with a double, while Taylor Wade was 1-for-4 and Hannah McCullough was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Riley Houston pitched all seven innings for the Tigers, who dropped to 2-5 in the Big 5.

“I thought we started off strong but we had a hard time adjusting after the first couple of innings,” McCracken said. “We didn’t make the adjustments and they did. Props to Riley, she did a good job keeping our hitter off balance.”

Sargent got the win in the pitcher’s circle, giving up just three hits and three walks in seven innings and striking out five.

The Panthers also impressed on the bases.

“Our team did a good job base running,” McCracken said. “We put a lot of pressure on their defense, and McKennah as always was solid in the circle.

“Our defense is getting the job done. They had a lot of good communication.”

Jessica Kaber, Lexi Alto, Jenna Renteria and Nallia Meyer each had a hit for the Tigers, with Alto and Lily Cunningham each driving in a run.

“We had our chances,” Arcata head coach Steve Sarchett said. “Riley Houston and our defense held McKinleyville scoreless for the last four innings, we just couldn’t get anything going offensively.

“Kudos to our pitching and defense. It was a much closer game than the score shows.”