File photo – The Fortuna Huskies
The Fortuna Huskies maintained their challenge for this year’s Big 5 championship in softball with a 10-6 win at Eureka on Wednesday, but they had to battle.
A young Loggers team gave them a bit of a scare along the way, plating four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to make the Huskies work hard late in the game to secure the all-important victory.
With conference leaders Del Norte shutting out Arcata 9-0 in Crescent City, the Huskies needed to win to keep pace.
The Warriors are now 7-1 in conference play with four games remaining, while the Huskies are 6-1 with a game in hand, and the two schools will play each other in Crescent City next Wednesday in a game that is looking more and more like a championship showdown.
The Fortuna girls started strong, scoring two runs in the second to take a lead they would not relinquish.
The added six runs ion the fifth to carry an 8-0 lead heading into the final two innings.
But led by the bats of Macy Secor and Koko Saulque, a young Eureka team that is gaining confidence with every outing never gave up the fight and made a late run to make for an interesting finish.
Saulque finished 2-for-3 in the loss, while Secor was 2-for-4 with a run.
Isabel Sanchez and Olivia Hayes led the way for the visitors.
Sanchez finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI and also was walked.
The junior standout also got the win in the circle, pitching the opening five innings and then coming back in late after being relieved in the top of the sixth.
Sanchez gave up just one earned run on four hits and four walks and struck out 12.
Hayes, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while teammate Mariah Bravo added a double and two RBIs.
File photo – The Eureka Loggers
Evalynn Little, Faith Helms, and Sephora Machado each also had a base hit and an RBI to round out an eight-hit team performance for Fortuna, while Hailee Thompson drove in a run.
For Eureka, Bailey Brown also made some noise at the plate and was 1-for-3 with a walk and scored twice, while Megan Secor finished 1-for-3 and scored a run.
Kylie Secor and Jaycee Childress each also had an RBI, while Mallorie Beauchamp had a stolen base and scored a run, and Makenze Wolff scored a run.
Wolff pitched all seven innings and took the loss, giving up eight hits and striking out 10 as she continues to build momentum in the circle.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 14-2 overall, while the Loggers dropped to 0-7 in the Big 5 and 0-14-1 overall.
Next up, on Saturday, Eureka plays a doubleheader at Arcata and Fortuna plays two games at McKinleyville.
