Submitted photo – Alayna Cooney in action for the Ferndale Wildcats on Saturday.

A pair of Little 4 teams continued their preparation for the upcoming conference schedule this weekend, with St. Bernard’s in action at the Biggs tournament and Ferndale playing a doubleheader at Calistoga.

The Crusaders won two of four games at Biggs, with sophomore pitcher Oni Orcutt showcasing why she could be the most dangerous pitcher in the conference this spring.

The SB girls opened with a 6-4 loss to Etna, before winning back-to-back games against Portola (14-2) and Modoc (10-1).

They closed out the weekend tournament with a 3-1 loss to Biggs.

“Our team played some great softball this weekend,” St. Bernard’s head coach Hailey Wilson said. “Oni Orcutt was outstanding in the circle and also came through at the plate as well.”

The Crusaders scored 29 runs over the four games and they are now 4-5 on the season.

Kyna Tupua and Logan Tallman each had two hits against Portola, while Makinsey Lemley and Sahara Tupua each had a double.

Kyna Tupua continued to impress against Modoc and added two more hits, while Tallman and Lemley each also doubled in that win.

Orcutt finished 2-for-2 against Biggs and drove in her team’s only run of the game, while Sahara Tupua showcased her power at the plate with a triple in the loss.

Orcutt pitched both wins.

“Overall, we hit the ball really well, which is a great sign moving forward,” Wilson said. “We made some mental mistakes which cost us in the final game, but those are things we can learn from and clean up.”

The Ferndale Wildcats, meanwhile, split a doubleheader at Calistoga, losing the opener 3-0 and taking game two 11-1 in five innings.

The Ferndale bats managed just two hits in game one, but responded well later in the day with a much better performance to salvage a split and go to 2-2.

“The girls were frustrated after the first game. Their pitcher did a good job keeping us off balance,” Ferndale head coach Jermey Griffith said. “We were able to be a little more patient in game two.”

Olivia Gossi and Fallon Bullan each finished 1-for-3 in the opener.

Gossi took the loss in the circle, giving up just one earned run, but she got little support from her offense.

Game two was a different story with six different Ferndale players hitting successfully.

Check out Alayna Cooney’s RBI single, which scored freshman Caleigh Griffith, in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader between Ferndale and Calistoga …

Gossi and Alayna Cooney led the way and both finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs, while Randi Rice and Yajaira Cantu-Mendez each went 1-for-1 and scored three runs apiece.

Madison Gossi also was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Bullan was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Gossi pitched a complete game for the win, giving up just one earned run and striking out eight in five innings.

The team defense also helped pave the way to victory.

“I thought defensively we took a nice step forward from earlier in the week,” Griffith said.

A pair of freshmen — Rice and Caleigh Griffth — both “did a good job stepping for us,” according to the coach, while Bullan continued to impress for the team at second base.

The sophomore put in a lot of work during the offseason and it has shown early in the new season.

“Fallon just continued to make several nice plays defensively at second base,” Jeremy Griffith said. “It’s really exciting to see (the hard work) paying off for her. She’s had a great first week to the season.”

Next up, the Wildcats are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Trinity on Tuesday afternoon.