Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Ben Lukens in action for the Arcata boys on Wednesday.
Senior Ben Lukens frustrated a dangerous Eureka lineup with a strong performance on the mound at Arcata High on Wednesday.
The Tigers ace led his team to a 5-4 victory just four days after they lost both ends of a doubleheader to Del Norte in their conference openers.
With the win, the Arcata boys improved to 1-2 in the Big 5 and 8-4 overall, while the Loggers dropped to 2-1 and 4-6.
The Eureka boys will try to bounce back when they host defending conference champs McKinleyville in a huge doubleheader at Belotti Field on Saturday.
And Eureka head coach Tommy Gale will be hoping his players will use this loss as motivation when they take on the Panthers.
The Loggers got off to a fast start on Wednesday, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, but they were held to just one run the remainder of the day and managed just three hits against Lukens.
“Definitely disappointing,” Gale said of the performance. “We kind of have a pattern going, putting up a great first inning and then shutting down.
“We’ve got to break through that. It’s just a mentality thing.”
The Tigers would answer with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first and took a lead they would not relinquish with a fourth run in the second.
Lukens and Eureka’s Sebastian Standish set the tone on the mound for much of the afternoon, with neither team able to add to their tally until late despite having multiple runners on base.
The Tigers stretched their advantage to two in the bottom of the sixth and they would need the insurance run as they visitors would score a run of their own in the top of the seventh to pull back within one.
That, however, was as close as they would get.
The win was marred by a late injury to senior Anthony Ebert, who was hurt on a play at home plate after replacing Tanner Kees at catcher.
But the Tigers showed a lot of composure.
“I thought that we had a chance to fold when they jumped up 3-0, and our kids answered back,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said. “We had some errors that our kids were able to overcome to win a 5-4 ball game with them having runners in scoring position.
“I thought our kids really stepped up.”
Lukens threw 6.2 innings for the win, allowing three hits and six walks, although two of them were intentional.
He also struck out six, getting strikeouts at crucial times of the game.
Ebert led the way at the plate before exiting the game and finished 2-for-3, as did Tanner Kees.
Charlie Mager also impressed at the plate in the win and was 1-for-2, with Lukens and Finn Warner each also getting a hit.
The win was a nice response for a team that has endured some adversity this season with a number of players leaving the roster for various reasons in recent weeks, including multiple starters.
“It was kind of a signature win for us,” Ghisetti said.
Cole Zeller had a double for the Loggers, with teammates Michael Jewell and Robert Williams each also finishing with a base hit.
Kees replaced Lukens on the hill in the seventh and got the final out for the save.
Standish threw four hitless innings in relief to give his team a chance.
“It was great to see Sebastian come in and put up a bunch of zeros,” Gale said.
The Loggers will now turn their attention to Saturday’s big games against the Panthers, the same team that edged them for the conference title a year ago.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how these guys respond,” Gale said.
Those two games will be played at Belotti Field across from the Redwood Acres and will have a later starting time than usual because of a scheduled game for College of the Redwoods on the same field on Saturday.
The games will start at 4:30 and 7 p.m.
The Tigers will have a bye in conference play this weekend, but will play a doubleheader at home against Etna on Friday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
