Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Tuesday night’s game at the Arcata Ball Park.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders have advanced to Thursday’s Charles Lakin tournament semifinals after a 4-3 win over Fortuna in opening-round action at the Arcata Ball Park on Tuesday.

The St. Bernard’s boys led early in the game after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Huskies would chip away at the deficit and tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth.

However, the Crusaders had the final say, re-taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth and holding on down the stretch for the victory.

The win sets up a semifinal showdown against Big 5 champion McKinleyville at 7 p.m.

A young SB team started two freshmen and four sophomores and the young players rose to the challenge.

“They all stepped up and played great to lead us to this win,” SB head coach Matt Tomlin said.

Tyler Hinrichs was particularly effective and played a key role on the mound and at the plate.

The sophomore finished 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI and a run, while also starting on the hill and throwing 4.2 innings.

Hinrichs gave up five hits and four walks and also struck out six.

Mateo Gutierrez and Michael Manzi each pitched an inning in relief.

Gutierrez got the win, allowing no hits and one walk and striking out two, with Manzi throwing a scoreless and hitless seventh for the save and also striking out two.

“I thought all three of our pitchers threw well tonight and we played better defense behind them,” Tomlin said.

Gutierrez also made some noise at the plate and was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run, while freshman Mateo Reiman continued to build momentum at the varsity level and was 1-for-2 with two big RBIs early in the game.

Hunter Reback led the Huskies at the plate and was 2-for-3 with a triple, while Kallen Barrote was 2-for-3 with a double and had two RBIs.

Tyler Schlesiger also was 1-for-3 for Fortuna.

Senior Drew Franklin pitched six solid innings and took the loss on the mound, while finishing with three strikeouts.

“I thought both teams played great,” Fortuna head coach Max Betts said. “It just didn’t fall our way, but what can you do, that’s just baseball.”

Betts, however, was more than happy with his team’s effort all season long.

“I’m so proud of my guys for the season they had, especially with very limited access to a field to practice on,” he added.

The Crusaders will now turn their attention to a tough matchup against the Big 5 champs later in the week.

“Now we prepare to play a very good McKinleyville team on Thursday night,” Tomlin said. “We have nothing to lose, so we can relax and just have fun and hopefully give them our best effort.”