Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville players and coaches celebrate their championship win at the Arcata Ball Park on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — The McKinleyville Panthers secured their place in school history with a breakthrough championship on Friday night.

Two weeks after winning the Big 5 conference, the Panthers completed an historic double with a 4-2 win over Eureka in the Charles Lakin baseball tournament championship game at the Arcata Ball Park.

It is the program’s first-ever Lakin championship in the brief 10-year history of the H-DNL postseason tournament, and it will give this group of players plenty of momentum and confidence as they go in search of a North Coast Section championship to add to their tally of impressive achievements this spring.

“It’s huge,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said of the achievement. “It’s really hard to put into words. The kids have worked their butts off for this, and I’m just really proud of the kids for what they have accomplished. They deserve all the credit.”

They certainly had to battle for it on Friday against a Eureka program that has dominated this tournament since its inception in 2015, and one that had won four of the seven previous Lakin championships.

But the Panthers rose to the occasion and would not be denied, even if they did get some help along the way from a Loggers team that committed five errors.

“It’s tough to win a championship with five errors,” Eureka head coach Tommy Gale said.

The Panthers, to their credit, took full advantage of the Eureka errors and opened up a 4-0 lead after three innings to take control of the game.

The Loggers would rally late and scored two runs in the top of the sixth to make for an exciting finish, but McKinleyville pitcher Jackson Kelly and his defense kept them at bay and held on for the win.

With the momentum shifting in the top of the sixth, Jackson picked off a Eureka runner at second base for the third time to end the threat and the inning.

Branson Dobrec took over on the mound in the top of the seventh and a one-two-three inning ended any hope of a comeback for Eureka and ensured there would be a new Lakin tournament champion for the second straight year after Fortuna secured a breakthrough championship in 2023.

Check out the final out and some postgame celebrations below …

“It was a gutsy performance,” Mike Dobrec said of his players. “Jackson battled. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he made it work. He settled in and threw a good game. He competed every inning for us.”

Freshman Rhythm Green also was instrumental in the win and showed no signs of nerves on the biggest stage of his young career.

Green, who is one of five freshmen on this McKinleyville team, finished 2-for-3 and drove in two of his team’s four runs.

“Two hits for a freshman, that was huge,” his head coach said. “He really rose to the occasion. He came through for us.

“It’s kind of been that way for this team. When we need something to happen, someone chips in and helps us.”

Stolpe also had a big night at the plate and was 2-for-4, while Evan Fraser was 1-for-3 and also drove in two runs.

Tyson Bragg, Hunter Carper and Riles Egbert each also had a base hit in the win.

The Loggers, who had won four straight Lakin tournaments between 2016 and 2019, will feel as if this was one that got away from them.

McKinleyville pitcher Jackson Kelly picked off three runners at second base in Friday’s game …

After pushing the Panthers all the way in conference play and finishing second in the Big 5, this was the rematch they wanted, but they failed to live up to the occasion.

“Every time we got some momentum on the bases, we made a base-running error,” Gale said.

Despite the disappointment of the loss, there were some bright spots, including the play of sophomore pitcher Ty Crawford and junior catcher Michael Jewell.

A composed Crawford, in the words of his coach, pitched well enough to win, but his defense did not make enough plays behind him.

“I know how hard it is to fight through the frustration when you make a good pitch and the defense doesn’t make the play behind you,” Gale said. “I know how hard it is to keep your composure in a situation like that and I think he did a good job of that.”

Jewell kickstarted the late rally and helped put his team in position to make a late run after leading off the sixth inning with the Loggers’ second base hit of the night and then scoring his team’s first run of the game moments later. 

“He’s one of our four team captains and deservedly so,” his coach said. “His at-bat in the sixth inning was one of a true leader. He went up there determined to get on base, and that was an at-bat of a true leader.”

Mike Dobrec praised the performance of the Loggers, who had won nine straight games coming into Friday’s final.

“Eureka, they gave us a game,” he said. “It was a great game. Ty Crawford threw well. They’re a good team and I wish them the best in the playoffs.”

This night, however, belonged to the Panthers, who have now won 14 straight games and 17 of their last 18, an impressive run that will give them plenty of momentum heading into next week’s NCS playoffs.

The Mack boys, who had only once previously reached a Lakin tournament final — when they lost to Eureka in 2019 — are ranked No. 1 in NCS Division 4 and could be in line for a top seed when the brackets are announced on Saturday.

Only one team in the history of H-DNL baseball and softball combined has ever won a conference title, a Lakin tournament title and a section championship in the same year, and that was the McKinleyville softball team in 2019.

There is still a lot of work to do to achieve that, but the Mack boys have given themselves a chance at matching that with Friday’s win.

Afterward Friday’s historic victory, Mike Dobrec praised the contributions of his assistant coaches — Jeremy Sargent, Ryan Baxter, Ray Luzzi and Regan Wolfe — and everyone involved with the program.

“It takes a whole village,” he said. “It’s been a fun ride this year and hopefully we can keep that momentum going.”