Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from the Northern Humboldt Giants tournament on Saturday.

By Ray Hamill — The Southern Humboldt 76ers will play the Northern Humboldt Giants for the championship at the Giants American Legion tournament on Sunday evening.

On Saturday, the 76ers took care of business against a young Wild Cactus Baseball team by a score of 3-1 for their second tournament victory in two days.

Later in the day, the Giants rallied from an early one-run deficit to beat Paradise 3-1 in the other semifinal.

Northern Humboldt’s Ben Lukens pitched 6.2 innings for the win, giving up just the one run on two hits and striking out eight.

Tanner Kees had a big day at the plate for the hosts and was 3-for-4 with a two-run double that drove in the winning and insurance runs.

Lukens, Aidan Rice, Bode Reininger, Mateo Reiman and Joe Capp each also had a hit in the win, with the latter two coming off the bench for their hits, which set the stage for Kees’ big game-winning blast.

“They’re playing good fundamental baseball,” Giants head coach Eric Agliolo said of his players. “For a young team they’re doing real good.”

Lyle McKinnon got the final out for the save.

On Friday, the Giants defeated Siskiyous 8-2 in their tournament opener.

Rhythm Green set the tone on the mound and pitched a complete game for the win, allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out nine.

Hunter Carper provided the offensive highlight of the day with a two-run home run in the first that helped set the tone for the game.

Carper finished 2-for-4, as did Kees, while Capp and Lukens each was 2-for-2, including a triple by Lukens.

Green also had a double, while Reiman and Tate Saso each added a hit.

The Wild Cactus, meanwhile, had a middle school player step up for them for the second straight day,

One day after Winship’s Jackson Sharp pitched gem in an 11-0 win over Red Bluff, his teammate Jerron Biondini had an outstanding day on the hill.

The 13-year-old lefty from Fortuna Middle School threw 1.1 hitless innings in relief against the older 76ers players.

According to head coach Matt Tomlin, Biondini “really shined today.”

Tomlin had just five high school players available for the game and had to rely on several of the youngsters, who made a game of it against the 76ers and held them scoreless after the third inning.

A big third inning, however, was all the Southern Humboldt players would need.

This year’s Little 4 MVP Parker Prior drove in teammate Jonah Anderson to break the early deadlock and would score himself a few minutes later on a wild throw to first base.

The 76ers would add a third run on an error before the inning ended.

The Wild Cactus would pull one back in the top of the fourth when Quintin Ikeya scored on a wild pitch.

Luke Brunton got the start on the mound for the Wild Cactus and gave up just one earned run in 4.2 innings.

Brunton helped his own cause by going 1-for-3 with a double, while Ikeya and TC Rinker each also finished 1-for-3.

“It was a great baseball game today,” Tomlin said. “We only had five high school players available, so several middle school players stepped up to play and they did outstanding.

“Both of our pitchers threw great and gave us a chance to win. We came up just short in the end. I’m super proud of the team.”

The Wild Cactus will play Paradise in the third-place game on Sunday at 3 p.m.

No final stats were immediately available for the 76ers.

The 76ers coaches are encouraged to reach out to Humboldt Sports with details.

Sunday’s championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.