Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Del Norte Warriors won 7-1 at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors showed the character they will need to successfully defend their Big 5 title in softball this season at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

They enjoyed the better of exchanges early in the game, but were unable to really take advantage of that and the two teams were tied 1-1 after four innings.

But the Warriors would add six unanswered runs late in the game and prevailed 7-1 to keep the pressure on Big 5 leaders Fortuna, which defeated Arcata 7-1 on Wednesday to go to 5-1 in conference play.

The slow starts, however, have been a concern for the Warriors despite their impressive record this spring.

“We’ve got to get going earlier rather than later,” Del Norte head coach Aaron Healy said. “We left 12 runners on base. We can do better.”

The players, however, responded late to secure the victory as the Warriors improved to 4-1 in the Big 5, (12-2 overall) and they remain just one win behind the conference leaders with a game in hand.

Several players stepped up for the experienced Warriors, including senior pitcher Shay Nolan.

The team ace gave up just three hits and no walks with a controlled performance, and she allowed her defense make the necessary plays behind her.

“It was a pretty solid day in the circle for her,” Healy said. “If she does her job and her defense does their job, we don’t allow many runs.”

The left side of the infield was particularly effective on defense, with shortstop Khloe Smith and third baseman Tsinte Steinruck each making several key plays to frustrate the McKinleyville bats.

Freshman first baseman Addi Whitford also continued to play at a very high level for the Del Norte girls and finished 2-for-3 on offense.

“For a young ball player, those are quality at-bats,” her coach said.

Smith also was 2-for-3 with two walks and is “kind of locked in right now,” according to Healy, while Carlee Harper was 2-for-4 with a walk and scored twice.

“Her getting on base usually ends up in runs,” Healy said of the high-scoring senior catcher.

The Del Norte outfield of Bliss Blackburn, Tayler Starkey and Bella Arriola also continued to impress and they made the necessary plays throughout, with Blackburn sealing the win with a nice catch to end the game.

The Panthers, to their credit, gave the visitors all they could handle for much of the afternoon and were well in contention after tying things up in the bottom of the fourth inning when first baseman Breannah Stevens scored their only run of the game.

But they were unable to add to their tally late in the game as the Warriors began to take control.

Callyn McCullough led the Mack girls at the plate and was 2-for-3 with a double, while driving in Stevens for the run.

Senior Bailee Box also had a hit in the loss.

McKennah Sargent took the loss in the circle, but pitched well.

The junior threw a complete game, giving up eight hits and striking out 11.

With the loss, the Panthers dropped to 2-2 in the Big 5 and 7-7 overall.