Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Fortuna Huskies open the Big 5 against Eureka on Saturday.

By Ray Hamill — The race for this year’s Big 5 championship in softball should be a good one.

Early in the new season, two schools appear ready to battle it out for the title, although a third team could also make some serious noise and will likely give the two frontrunners all they can handle.

The Del Norte girls are the two-time defending conference champs and have a very experienced and deep roster that looks well capable of making it three straight titles and making some noise in the North Coast Section postseason.

They will be many people’s favorites heading into this year’s Big 5, which gets under way on Saturday, and with seven seniors on the starting team their experience could prove decisive.

But they will likely have their hands full against an equally talented Fortuna team that is looking to end an eight-year Big 5 championship drought and is playing as well as anyone in the H-DNL right now.

The Huskies have an almost perfect blend of seniors, juniors and young talent, and they feature a high-scoring offense that has scored in double digits in all eight of their wins.

And because of that they will carry plenty of momentum and confidence into conference play.

The two Big 5 frontrunners will play each other three times in conference play, including a doubleheader at Fortuna a week from Saturday and a single game in Crescent City on April 30.

And obviously those three games will be huge in the race for the title.

However, an always dangerous McKinleyville Panthers team could also have a say in this year’s Big 5.

The Panthers may not have the depth or overall experience to match the Warriors and Huskies, but they’re capable of beating any team in the H-DNL on their day and will relish the underdog role.

The race for the Little 4 title, meanwhile, could be one of the most wide open in recent times, with all four teams in the mix.

The St. Bernard’s girls are defending conference champs, but South Fork, Ferndale and Hoopa all look capable of challenging the Crusaders for their crown.

And that should make it very interesting in the coming weeks.

The McKinleyville Panthers

SOFTBALL POWER RANKINGS 

1 — Del Norte (5-1)

The Warriors are the team to beat until someone proves different

2 — Fortuna (8-1)

The Huskies might just be the team to do that

3 — McKinleyville (5-5)

The Panthers have had an up-and-down season so far

4 — South Fork (6-2)

Head coach Lisa Todd always gets the best out of her players at South Fork

5 — St. Bernard’s (6-5)

The Crusaders are defending Little 4 champs and return most of their players this spring