The South Fork Cubs opened conference play in baseball and softball on Thursday, with mixed results.

The girls swept a softball doubleheader at Hoopa, winning game one 7-2 and taking game two 13-1.

A young South Fork boys team also traveled to Hoopa for a single game in baseball and fell 12-1 in five innings.

It was an impressive start for the South Fork girls, who are finding their groove early in the season and carried that momentum into conference play.

The Cubs also feature a young roster this spring with just two seniors and four juniors among their 16 players.

But despite their relative youth, the South Fork girls have hit the ground running in the Little 4.

“The girls played well today,” head coach Lisa Todd said. “There were some things that we worked hard on this week in practice they brought to the game.”

Freshman Leila Coleman got the win in the circle in the opener, with sophomore Mackenzie Coleman getting the win in game two.

Leila struck out six and only walked one batter, while Mackenzie struck out five and did not walk anybody.

They both got plenty of help from their teammates.

“I feel defensively we played great,” Todd said. “Both pitchers pitched great games and defense was tight.

“It took our bats a little while to get going. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are getting there.”

Leila Coleman also had a huge day at the plate, finishing 7-for-8 with a walk and driving in three runs.

The young standout also hit a home run in game one.

Mackenzie Coleman also had a big impact at the plate and was 7-for-9 on the day with three RBIs

Molly Perkins, Kendall Kercher and Hailey Shepherd each also had two hits in game one, with Shepherd driving ion a pair of runs and Perkins one.

The South Fork bats were even more impressive in game two.

Perkins was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, while Kercher finished 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

Makenzie Brewer and Aubrey Young each also had two hits in that win.

Young was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, while Brewer was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

The Cubs, who are now 8-2 on the season, will continue conference play with a doubleheader at St. Bernard’s next Thursday with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

File photo by Gina Muhs

The South Fork boys, meanwhile, gave up five runs in the bottom of both the second and third innings in what was a disappointing conference opener for the young team.

“Our inexperience is starting to show more and more against the tougher opponents on the schedule,” head coach Alex Finn said. 

The first-year South Fock head coach also praised the performance of the Warriors, who got their first conference win in two years and just their second dating back to 2017.

“Hats off to Hoopa for putting yup 12 and getting a lot of solid base hits,” he added. “Not a lot of errors. Not too many miscues. Just well played baseball by them.

“(Hoopa head coach) Aaron Williams is doing a fine job in his first year.”

For more on Hoop[a’s performance, see Hoopa Warriors top the Cubs, end long wait for Little 4 victory …