Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The Ferndale Wildcats are playing with a lot of belief right now, and that showed once again on Tuesday.

One week after they took care of business in their North Coast Section championship game against Point Arena, the Wildcats continued to roll with an 8-6 win over Etna in the CIF NorCal Division-5 quarterfinals at Ferndale High.

The victory avenged a one-run loss to the Lions in the opening round of the NorCals at Etna last year, and once again the Cats had to overcome an early deficit on their way to victory, just as they did in the NCS final.

The Little 4 champs trailed by a run in the top of the first and found themselves 5-2 adrift after two innings.

But this is a team that has lost just twice all season, and you don’t do that unless you’re playing with a lot of confidence and self belief.

“Just the way we’ve been able to answer early kind of makes this team know everything is attainable,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “They just keep doing everything they need to do to keep playing.”

After cutting the deficit to two with one run in the third inning, the Cats would take control of the game with five more runs in the fourth, and with senior pitcher Levi Dixon and his defense growing stronger as the game wore on, there was no way back for the visitors after that.

And just like last week’s NCS championship game, an early inning-ending double play helped swing the momentum back in the Cats’ favor.

With a runner at second in the top of the third, Etna’s Mason Padgett hit a fly ball to right field that looked like it was going to fall, but Ferndale right fielder Tristen Titus made a diving catch for the out and quickly threw to shortstop Parker Prior at second to complete the double play.

“That double play got us out of that inning and gave us some momentum,” Andersen said.

In the bottom half of the inning, sophomore Tanner Pidgeon was hit by a pitch to reach base and advanced all the way to third on an Austin Michel single, before scoring moments later on a passed ball to make it 5-3.

Dixon and the Cats defense then quickly retired the Lions in order in the top of the fourth before adding five runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a lead they would not relinquish.

And they scored those five runs on just one hit, while taking advantage of everything Etna gave them.

Prescott led off the inning and reached base on an error, before Titus singled and his older brother Trent Titus was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

An RBI walk by Prior and an RBI fielder’s choice by Pidgeon would tie the game, before Dixon was hit by a pitch for the second time in three at-bats to drive in the go-ahead run.

Back-to-back RBI fly outs by Michel and Jonah Anderson added two more insurance runs before the inning was over.

Dixon pitched all seven innings for the win on the mound and showed his composure by not getting frustrated after a second-inning error in the outfield led to three Etna runs and put the Cats in an early hole. 

But that’s something his coach has come to expect of the senior.

“When Levi gets on the mound, he doesn’t get frustrated if we make a bad play,” said Andersen, who added, “The resilience of this group is beginning to represent who they are.”

Dixon allowed three earned runs on five hits and three walks and struck out six.

The Cats managed just five base hits for the game.

Pidgeon led the way at the plate and was 2-for-3 with a double that he almost turned into a triple.

He also had an RBI and scored three runs.

Prior and Michel each went 1-for-2 with an RBI and Tristen Titus was 1-for-3 with a run.

Trent Titus was 0-for-2 but reached base on a walk and a hit-by-pitch and scored both times he reached base.

The win sets up a first-ever NorCal semifinal for the Wildcats, who are seeded No. 3 in the eight-team bracket and will play at No. 2 Woodland Christian on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

No. 1 Menlo School will play No. 5 Oakland Tech in the other semifinal, and if both the Cats and Oakland win then the NorCal final will take place in Ferndale on Saturday.

“I’m proud of the kids and happy for the community,” Andersen said. “And now we’re on to our biggest challenge of the season and we’re looking forward to it.”

The temperature is expected top be in the high 90s in Woodland on Thursday.

“It’ll be interesting,” Andersen added. “But at this point of the year every game is going to be our hardest game.”

Tuesday’s loss ended a 19-game winning streak for the Lions.