POWER RANKINGS — Who’s best positioned to win Big 5, Little 4?

By barstoolfanatics on April 2, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

By Ray Hamill — The first of four matchups between the two favorites to win the Little 4 went right down to the wire on Tuesday, suggesting there will be little to separate these two rivals in the race for this year’s conference championship in baseball once again.

Last year, it was the Ferndale Wildcats who edged their rivals for the title after a doubleheader sweep over the St. Bernard’s Crusaders on the final day of the regular season.

It was Ferndale’s first L4 championship since 2005 and it ended a dominating run by the Crusaders, who had claimed 15 of the previous 16 conference crowns.

And judging by their start to the season, the Cats appear to be just as dangerous this year despite losing five seniors to graduation in 2024, including four who saw substantial playing time.

But so too do the Crusaders, who won Tuesday’s L4 opener 4-3 and are sitting atop the standings early in the campaign.

The two schools will face off a second time in three days at Ferndale High on Thursday afternoon and will play twice more in conference after that.

So there’s still a long way to go in the race for the championship.

A much-improved Hoopa team, meanwhile, should also make some noise in this year’s Little 4, as the Warriors look to turn the corner on their recent struggles in conference play.

The South Fork boys will also look to cause an upset or two along the way and a young Cubs team should only continue to improve as the season progresses.

The Big 5, meanwhile, will also likely be a two-horse race between frontrunners McKinleyville and Eureka, just as it was a year ago.

The Panthers prevailed in 2024 after winning two of three early-conference matchups against the Loggers and holding on down the stretch despite being pushed all the way by a Eureka team that never gave up the chase.

The two schools are scheduled to face off in a doubleheader at Mack High next week and also in a single game at Eureka on the last day of the month.

Those three games will likely go a long a long way towards deciding this year’s championship, although the Arcata Tigers are capable of beating anyone on their day, even if they seem to lack the pitching depth to really challenge for the title.

Likewise with Del Norte, who have one of the best pitchers in the entire H-DNL in Preston Daniels and are the hottest team in league right now having gone six games unbeaten.