Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Luke Brunton

By Ray Hamill — There’s still a long way to go in this year’s Little 4, but St. Bernard’s took an important step towards a championship on Thursday.

The Crusaders traveled to Ferndale and won 6-3, beating a Wildcats team that is considered to be their biggest challengers in the race for this year’s conference crown.

The win was the team’s second over the Cats in conference play in just three days, following a 4-3 victory at the Bear River Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

“This was a complete-team victory,” SB head coach Matt Tomlin said.

The visitors certainly got big contributions from several players, but perhaps none more so than the battery of pitcher Luke Brunton and catcher Michael Manzi, who combined to frustrate the home bats for much of the afternoon.

Brunton pitched a complete game, allowing just three walks and no earned runs and striking out seven.

“Luke Brunton and Michael Manzi were in a great rhythm working together, with Manzi calling the pitches behind the plate and Brunton pitching outstanding on the mound,” Tomlin said.

Brunton’s performance came just five days after he threw a no-hitter at Point Arena, and the junior, who is enjoying an impressive spring on the hill, is now 2-0 with two saves.

The loss for the Cats was obviously a disappointing one and leaves them with an uphill battle if they are to successfully defend the conference title they won outright a year ago.

Two losses to their biggest rivals and main challengers for the title in the opening three days of conference play leaves them with little room for error the remainder of the way.

However, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played in this year’s Little 4 and a resurgent Hoopa Warriors team could also have a big say in where this year’s championship ends up.

“We’ve put ourselves in a tough spot moving forward, but it’s something we have the ability to overcome,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “Right now, we’re not as good as we thought we were, but I’m not in panic mode by any means.”

Several players had big contributions and key hits for the Crusaders, including senior team captain Tyler Maples, who had arguably the biggest hit of the game.

Trailing 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, the Wildcats scored a pair of runs to pull within one and grab the momentum, the first on an RBI double by Jonah Anderson and the second on a sac fly by Jarrett Smith.

The Crusaders would answer almost immediately, however, with Maples driving in a pair of runs with two outs in the top of the sixth to restore his team’s three-run advantage and take the wind out of the Cats’ comeback.

“I thought the biggest difference today was timely hitting,” Andersen said. “They did it multiple times and we didn’t.”

Mateo Reiman added two doubles for St. Bernards and made the best defensive play of the game with a diving catch in center field in the bottom of the seventh.

SB sophomore Mason Noel also had two big RBIs in the No. 9 spot in the order, while Tyler Hinrichs reached base all four times he went to bat, finishing 2-for-2 with a pair of walks.

Garrett Shanahan also had an RBI double for the Crusaders.

Prescott Langer got the start on the mound for Ferndale and pitched well, giving up five hits and striking out two, although five walks did not help his cause.

Jonah Anderson pitched one inning in relief and allowed one hit and two walks and struck out one.

The Wildcats certainly had opportunities to add to their tally, but left too many runners stranded.

“Luke kind of dominated the lower half of our lineup,” Andersen said of the SB pitcher. “He did what he had to do.

“We had plenty of runners on base and he found a way to get out of it.”

Leadoff hitter Tanner Pidgeon led the Wildcats at the plate and was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Anderson went 2-for-2 and drove in two of his team’s three runs.

Parker Prior, Luke Dixon and Cade Renner each also had a base hit for the Cats.

The win was the fifth straight for the Crusaders and lifts them to 2-0 in the Little 4 and 7-3 overall.

“I am very proud of the team,” Tomlin said. “They are playing as one family and working well together, and that has led to our five-game winning streak.

“We have to keep working hard and get better every day.”

Next up, the Crusaders will host South Fork in a L4 showdown on Tuesday.

“They’ve put themselves in the driver’s seat,” Andersen said.

The Wildcats, who dropped to 0-2 and 5-2, will try to bounce back and put a disappointing week behind them when they travel to play Hoopa on Tuesday in what will now be a pivotal showdown for them.