Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Preston Daniels in action at the plate for the Warriors in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Preston Daniels showed us why he could be the best pitcher in the H-DNL on Saturday.
The Del Norte senior dominated on the noun in game one of a conference-opening doubleheader at Arcata, pitching a five-inning complete-game no-hitter in a 17-0 win.
The Warriors would secure the sweep later in the day with a come-from-behind 13-10 win.
But the big story of the day was Daniels’ big performance in game one.
“Their pitcher threw an outstanding game,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said. “Preston, he was lights out.
“We gave them three (early) runs on errors, and he took the game over after that.”
The senior standout struck out eight in the win and walked three.
“We’re having him work on a lot of things right now and he did a good job,” Del Norte head coach Jeff Cook said of Daniels. “He went in there and he took care of business.
“He was confident. He was ready to go. It was the first league game and he was pumped.”
He also got plenty of offensive help.
Del Norte’s Marco Gonzalez led the way at the plate in game one and finished 3-for-4, while Aidan Rice went 2-for-3.
Game two was a different story and a back-and-forth showdown.
The visitors broke the early deadlock with six runs in the top of the second inning and appeared to be in control.
But the Tigers would battle back and they led going into the seventh inning.
However, the Warriors would rally late to secure the win and an opening-day sweep.
Rice was once again instrumental in the win in game two and finished 2-for-3, while teammate Anthony Cardenas was walked seven times on the day and scored six runs on those free passes.
Arcata’s Tanner Kees took the loss in game one and Ben Lukens got the loss in game two.
Lukens struck out eight and walked five.
Three walks, a hit-by-pitch and two errors were costly in the top of the second in game two.
“We just had a bad second inning,” Ghisetti said. “We had two errors in that inning that cost us six runs. None of the runs were earned. We just didn’t take care of the ball and we made some bad decisions and they took advantage of it.”
Landon Williams got the start on the hill for Del Norte, with Ben Shrewsberry getting the win in relief.
Williams also walked three times.
Kees, who has bene one of the most consistent and impressive catchers in the entire North Coast Section this season, had a good game at the plate in game two and finished 3-for-3, while freshman teammate Emilio Medina finished 2-for-2 and Finn Warner was 2-for-5.
Anthony Ebert, Liam Gorona and Charlie Mager each also had a base hit for Arcata.
The two wins stretch the Warriors’ unbeaten run to eight straight games and they have been a different team since losing an early-season matchup at Hoopa.
“That’s a great start (to the Big 5),” Cook said. “I thought we did a good job.”
Next up, the Tigers will host Eureka on Wednesday, while Del Norte plays a doubleheader at Fortuna next Saturday.
