Warriors overcome adversity, rally late to secure important split

By barstoolfanatics on April 19, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

File photo – Marco Gonzalez

The race for the Big 5 championship in baseball took another turn on Saturday.

Conference leaders Del Norte entertained Eureka in a doubleheader in Crescent City and split, losing game one 15-4 before rallying late to secure a 4-3 win in game two.

Junior Dominic Miller drove in two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two as the home team had to overcome two deficits on the way to victory.

With the split, the Warriors remain atop the conference standings, barely.

Del Norte, which defeated McKinleyville 3-1 on the road on Wednesday to take control of the race for the championship, is now 6-1 in the Big 5 (12-5-1 overall), while the Panthers, who swept a doubleheader against Arcata on Saturday, are right on their heels at 5-1 (14-3 overall) and have a game in hand.

The two conference rivals will play a doubleheader in Crescent City on May 3 in a pair of games that will likely decide this year’s championship.

“In the first game we faced adversity and didn’t handle it well, and in game two we faced adversity and handled it well,” Del Norte head coach Jeff Cook said. “What a day.”

With the way a loaded Panthers team is playing right now, Miller might just have saved his team’s title hopes with the clutch late hit on Saturday.

Marco Gonzalez and Preston Daniels had reached base on an error and base hit, respectively, and Miller drove them both home to overturn a 3-2 deficit.

They then held the Loggers scoreless in the top of the seventh to secure the much-needed win.

Game one was an ugly one for the Big 5 frontrunners.

A missed catch on a routine pop up would lead to three runs for the Loggers in the top of the first, and the same thing happened in both the second and third innings, giving the visitors an early 9-2 advantage.

And after that, there was no way back for the Warriors, who saw an 11-game unbeaten run end with the loss.

“Errors killed us,” Cook admitted.

However, the loss might not have been the worst thing to happen to this team, in much the same way an early-season loss at Hoopa seemed to wake them up and kickstart their campaign.

“I’m almost glad it happened,” Cook added. “It’s kind of a reality check. It was our first home game and there might have been some nerves, but we just did not play well.”

Despite the disappointment, the Warriors remain in the thick of the race for this year’s championship after their statement win at McKinleyville earlier in the week, and they still hold their fate in their own hands.

Two wins over McKinleyville on May 3 would more than likely secure the title and with team ace Preston Daniels to start in one of those games there’s every reason to believe they can achieve it.

Landon Williams pitched the first three innings of Saturday’s opener and took the loss on the mound, but the defeat was not on him.

“He did his job,” Cook said of the sophomore, who is enjoying an impressive spring with the team. “We just did not support him at all.”

Ben Shrewsberry got the win in game two, turning in a strong performance in a complete game.

The junior gave up seven hits and struck out 10 and his teammates avoided the earlier mistakes.

“It was a good game. We bounced back,” Cook said. “In that second game we did what we had to do.

“We were hoping to win two of three this week, and we did. We just did it the hard way.”

With the split, the Loggers leapfrogged Arcata into third in the conference standings and they remain on track for the Big 5’s third and final Charles Lakin tournament berth, at least.