Submitted photo – The Huskies celebrate Hailee Thompson’s grand slam during Wednesday’s game.
Fortuna junior Hailee Thompson had a day to remember on Wednesday as the Huskies quickly got back to winning ways and maintained their slender advantage in the Big 5.
Four days after seeing an eight-game winning streak end in a doubleheader split with Del Norte, the Fortuna girls responded with a 7-1 win over Arcata.
The win lifts the Huskies to 5-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall and keeps them one win ahead of the Del Norte Warriors, who won 7-1 at McKinleyville on Wednesday to go to 4-1 in the Big 5.
Thompson provided the offensive highlight of the day with a grand slam in the second inning, which was her first high school home run.
The blast gave the home team a 5-0 lead and they would make it stick with fellow junior Isabel Sanchez holding a young Arcata lineup in check for much of the afternoon.
Sanchez struck out 11 and walked eight on her way to the win, and she gave up just one hit.
The junior standout also led the Huskies at the plate and was 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs.
Sephora Machado also had two hits and a walk for the Huskies, while Mariah Bravo, Evalynn Little, Myra Hayes and Sophia Castillo each also had a base hit for the home team.
Nallia Meyer, who has been one of the Tigers’ most consistent and dangerous bats all season, had her team’s only hit of the game.
Riley Houston pitched a complete game for the Tigers, who dropped to 1-3 in the Big 5.
The junior team captain struck out two.
Submitted photo – Sephora Machado
Submitted photo – Isabel Sanchez in action for the Huskies on Wednesday.
The Tigers showed some promise getting on base, but they were unable to take advantage and stranded runners in five of the seven innings.
“We played some small ball and took pitch counts as deep as we could knowing how good of a team they are,” said Arcata head coach Jason Miller said. “But we just couldn’t get the big hit when we were threatening with runners in scoring position.”
Shortstop Josie Cunningham impressed on defense for the Tigers and made seven outs with no errors.
Arcata third baseman Peyton Miller also made “several outstanding defensive plays,” according to the Fortuna coaches.
“All in all we battled hard against a good team and pitcher,” the Arcata head coach added. “And we will learn and see them again soon.”
