Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Hoopa players and coaches celebrate their win on Wednesday.

By Ray Hamill — The Hoopa Warriors remain on track to add to their record haul of North Coast Section softball championships after an impressive playoff opener on Wednesday.

The most successful H-DNL program in section history broke open a close game with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth and held on for a comfortable 11-5 win over Swett in a Division-4 game at Hoopa.

The win sets up an all-local and all-Warriors quarterfinal showdown against Big 5 champion Del Norte in Crescent City on Friday.

Playing in warm conditions on Wednesday evening, the Hoopa girls turned in a composed business-like performance, with the team defense making the necessary plays behind pitcher Monteya Colegrove and the offense taking advantage of their opportunities.

The Warriors started fast and opened up a four-run lead after two innings.

Senior lead-off hitter Bella Valentine got the party started when she reached base on a strikeout and quickly advanced all the way to third on a wild throw to first base.

She would score moments later on a passed ball to open her team’s account.

The Warriors would add three more runs in the second inning, the first on an Angela Hern groundout that plated designated player Roxy Colegrove and a second on a two-out double by Kalia Mitchell that almost cleared the outfield fence.

Both teams would finish the game with seven hits, including a three-RBI single by Swett team captain Rebekah Millan, who led her team at the plate and finished 2-for-4.

That big hit narrowed the gap to one in the top of the third.

With the game still in the balance heading into the bottom of the fourth, the home team began to pull away with a big inning.

They managed just two hits in the inning but took full advantage of four walks and two hit batsmen.

Three walks from the bottom of the lineup to open the inning loaded the bases, and Valentine then delivered with a two-RBI single to widen the gap back out to three, before Hern made it a four-run lead when she scored on a passed ball.

Valentine’s big hit came just moments after she almost hit a home run that went just foul in left field.

Rianna Bain then drove in two more runs on a base hit to put her team up 9-3.

Bain, one of five seniors on the team, performed like she didn’t want her career to end just yet and played a pivotal role on defense and at the plate.

She finished 2-for-4 to lead the Warriors on offense and also made several big outs from third base.

Mitchell also played well behind the plate and reached base three of the four times she went to bat, while Jaiden Kurtz added a base hit and a walk in her two at-bats and also made a nice catch in left field to end the opening inning.

Ava Jackson and Kishan Dean each also had a hit in the win, while Roxy Colegrove had three walks in her four at-bats to help keep the offense rolling.

Monteya Colegrove also had a good day in the circle and finished with seven strikeouts.

More importantly, the sophomore standout displayed her composure after Swett’s big third inning and combined with her defense to retire the visitors in order in each of the next two innings.

Friday’s showdown in Crescent City is set for 5 p.m.

The Hoopa Warriors have won seven NCS titles.