The defending Big 5 champions in baseball will continue their preparations for this spring’s conference this weekend, as they get set to play at the Foothill tournament.

The McKinleyville Panthers will play a third early-season game against University Prep on Friday, before closing out the two-day tournament with a doubleheader on Saturday with games against Las Plumas and Red Bluff.

The Panthers got the new season off to a winning start last weekend by sweeping a high-scoring doubleheader at University Prep.

The Mack boys took game one 12-11 and secured the sweep with a 10-7 win in game two.

The team defense was problematic at times, but the pitching was solid and the players showed a lot of resilience, battling back from a four-run deficit in the final inning of the opener.

“We kicked the ball around quite a hit, but it was good the kids didn’t quit,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “We battled back and got the W.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but it was nice to get back on the field.”

Another bright spot was the team bats, with eight players hitting successfully in game one and six in game two.

Rhythm Green had multiple hits in both games, finishing an impressive 5-for-6 for the day to get his season off to an impressive start.

So too did Bryce Sargent, who was 4-for-7 and had two hits in each game.

In game one, Kolbey Stolpe finished 2-for-5, while Joe Forbes was 2-for-2.

Hunter Carper, Pat Wilson, Riles Egbert and Tate Saso each also had a base hit in the opener, with the latter also getting the win on the mound after pitching the final inning in relief.

Joe Tanno got the start and threw four solid innings for a no-decision, allowing two earned runs and striking out four.

Jackson Kelly got the start in game two and threw four solid innings for the win, allowing two runs and striking out four.

Carper had a good game at the plate and was 2-for-2, with Stolpe, Wilson and Bode Reininger each also getting a hit.