Red-hot Del Norte boys continue to roll, go to 4-0 in the Big 5

By barstoolfanatics on April 12, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

Photos by Martha Rice – Ben Shrewsberry in action for the Warriors at Fortuna on Saturday.

An early-season loss to Hoopa might have been the best thing to happen to Del Norte baseball this spring

Since that 5-4 upset defeat to the Little 4 school in mid March, the Warriors have been unstoppable.

On Saturday they stretched their unbeaten streak to 10 straight with a doubleheader sweep at Fortuna.

More importantly, the two wins keep them ahead of the chasing pack in the Big 5 and sets up a huge showdown at McKinleyville on Wednesday with the conference lead on the line.

“That Hoopa game really changed things for us,” Del Norte head coach Jeff Cook said.

So too did a couple of big wins at Arcata last weekend, and the Warriors followed that with the two wins on Saturday, defeating the Huskies 5-0 in the opener and 11-1 in game two.

With the victories, the Warriors improved to 4-0 in the Big 5, one win ahead of 3-0 McKinleyville, and 10-4-1 overall.

Senior team ace Preston Daniels continued to impress on the mound for the Del Norte boys and through the early part of conference play he is performing at an MVP level.

One week after pitching a no-hitter at Arcata, Daniels threw a one-hitter in game one at Fortuna.

The senior standout struck out 14.

He got plenty of offensive support, although the Warriors left 13 runners on base, including loading the bases twice and failing to get a runner home.

But they did enough to secure the win, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth to take control.

Photos by Martha Rice

“We hit the ball and we put it in play,” Cook added.

Ben Shewsberry had three walks in the opener and scored two of his team’s five runs, while Saxon Taylor continued to impress and was 1-for-1 with three walks and also scored twice.

Anthony Cardenas had the hot bat for the day.

The Del Norte senior finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the opener, and he followed that by going 2-for-4 with six RBIs in game two, giving him eight RBIs over the two games.

Landon Williams also made some noise at the plate in game two and was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Shrewsberry was walked three times.

Shrewsberry’s impact didn’t end there.

The Del Norte junior also got the win on the hill, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in a complete-game performance.

No stats were immediately available for the Huskies, who dropped to 0-5 in conference and 3-11 overall.