File photo – Hunter Carper

The Northern Humboldt Giants were missing some players for a Tuesday night game against the Southern Humboldt 76ers, but that didn’t slow them down.

The local American Legion club continued its impressive start to the summer season with a 6-5 win in eight innings in Fortuna.

With the win, the Giants improved to 6-2.

“We played pretty decently, considering it’s an older team they have and we didn’t have all of our guys,” Giants head coach Eric Agliolo said. “And I like the fact we came from behind.”

The Giants trailed 5-3 but rallied to tie the game at 5-5 to force the extra inning before pulling out the victory.

“They got a little gritty and did what they had to do to get the win,” Agliolo added.

Hunter Carper, a freshman with McKinleyville this past season, was instrumental in the win.

Carper pitched three scoreless innings in relief to get the victory on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out four.

He also helped his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.

Ben Lukens, who is enjoying a strong start to the summer season, also was 2-for-4 with a double for the Giants while teammate Joe Tanno was 2-for-4.

Hoopa’s Lyle McKinnon got the start on the mound for the Giants and threw five solid innings.

McKinnon gave up five runs on five hits and struck out five.

Rhythm Green and Bode Reininger each also had a base hit in the win.

With the team’s two first choice catchers both missing for the game, Agliolo started Blake Santos behind the plate and he did not disappoint.

“Blake Santos took over at catcher and did an excellent job,” said Agliolo, who added Santos may see more time behind the plate because of his performance.

Next up, the Giants will play three games in Oregon this weekend.

No game stats were immediately available for the 76ers.