Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Thursday’s tournament semifinal at the Arcata Ball Park.
By Ray Hamill — The Eureka Loggers will get the rematch they wanted.
A 9-2 win over Ferndale in the first semifinal of the Charles Lakin baseball tournament in beautiful conditions at the Arcata Ball Park on Thursday sets up a championship showdown against a McKinleyville team that edged them for this year’s Big 5 championship.
The two teams will face off in Friday night’s Lakin championship game after the Panthers also won their semifinal on Thursday night, beating St. Bernard’s 7-4.
More importantly for the Eureka boys, Thursday’s performance was a lot more encouraging than Tuesday’s tournament opener against South Fork, and that will give them some much-needed momentum heading into their biggest game of the season.
“I thought we played much better today,” head coach Tommy Gale said. “We used our practice yesterday to kind of focus in on our mental side of the game, and I think it paid off.”
Senior pitcher Cooper Ohlsen threw a complete game for the win and helped set the tone with another big performance.
Ohlsen gave up just three hits, no walks and no earned runs and struck out seven.
“Cooper just went out there and did Cooper things,” his coach said. “It’s what we’ve come to expect of him all year.”
Junior Jadyn Payton continued to shine at the plate and was one of three Eureka players to finish with two hits.
“Jaydn continues to hit the ball well,” Gale said. “I think he’s a key part of our offense in the No. 4 spot.”
The in-form Payton also had an RBI and two stolen bases, while teammates Robert Williams and Garrett Levitt each also had two hits in the win.
It was a different story for the Ferndale Wildcats, who showed little of the fight that led them to a first Little 4 title in 19 years and made far too many errors, including at least one in five of the seven innings.
“That’s not a recipe for success,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said of the error-filled performance. “And it’s not indicative of who we’ve been this year.”
The loss was just the second all season for the L4 champs, who were playing their first Lakin tournament game after receiving an opening-round bye.
Parker Prior, Jarrett Smith and Jonah Anderson each had a base hit for the Cats, with Smith also driving in a run.
Prescott Langer pitched the first four innings and took the loss after allowing four earned runs, before Austin Michel came in and closed out the game, allowing three more earned runs.
“Not our best day, but the good thing is a new season starts tomorrow,” added Andersen whose team is ranked No. 1 in North Coast Section Division 6 and is expected to receive a top seed for the section playoffs, which begin next week. “But I was disappointed with our efforts and disappointed with our representation of the Little 4.”
Friday’s championship game is set for 7 p.m. at the Arcata Ball Park.
McKinleyville won two of three Big 5 games against the Loggers this season, and the Panthers’ only loss in the last 17 games came against Eureka.
