File photo – The Arcata Tigers
The color of the Arcata jerseys at the end of Saturday’s game against Eureka told the story of the day.
The Tigers traveled to Washington Elementary School to play the Loggers in wet and muddy conditions and they prevailed 9-8 in a tight showdown with some great diving catches on defense.
“We had a big day on defense with multiple diving catches and played hard through the weather,” said Arcata head coach Jason Miller who added “Nothing like a muddy game to find the love of this sport and enjoy your team.
“I think every girl came home with a thrashed jersey and I love every second of it.”
The win lifts the Tigers to 3-5 in the Big 5 (6-9 overall) and keeps them in contention for third place and the conference’s final berth for next month’s Charles Lakin tournament.
Third place could very well be decided on the final day of the regular season when the Arcata girls host McKinleyville (3-3 in conference).
The Loggers, to their credit, gave the Tigers all they could handle, pulling within one run of forcing extra innings in the bottom of the seventh before they ran out of time.
It was the second one-run loss of the week for a young Loggers team that also fell 11-10 in extra innings to South Fork on Monday, and this a team that is knocking on the door as it looks for its first win of the season.
The Loggers also gave Big 5 contenders Fortuna all they could handle in a 10-6 loss on Wednesday.
“I’m super proud of the girls and the way they have come together to play the last couple of games,” Eureka head coach Cheyenne King said. “Despite the rain the entire game today, they stayed positive and determined.”
Both teams came out of the starting gates strong.
The Tigers scored four runs in the top of the first and would add four more in the second, while the Loggers kept pace with three runs in the bottom of the first and four more over the next three innings.
File photo – The Eureka Loggers
Riley Houston pitched a complete game for the win in the circle, giving up three walks and striking to five.
The hard-hitting Peyton Miller was one of three Arcata players to finish with multiple hits and finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and four RBIs.
Lily Cunningham also was 2-for-3 with a walk and Taylor Sutherland was 2-for-3.
Josie Cunningham also had a double and Alli Mitchell was 1-for-3 with a walk.
Mitchell also made a big diving catch in left field late in the game that got “our team hyped up,” according to Jason Miller.
“We hit well today and made very little mistakes and gave our pitcher what she needed to close us out,” the Arcata head coach added. “Eureka did well at threatening all game, but we stayed the course and made the outs when needed.
“All in all it was a great day for softball.”
There were also several standouts for the Loggers, who dropped to 0-9 in the Big 5.
Senior team leader Mallorie Beauchamp was 2-for-4 and scored three runs, while Macy Secor was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs.
Jaycee Childress also made some noise at the plate and was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, while Koko Saulque was 1-for-3.
Bailey Brown scored two runs in the loss, while Kyle Secor also scored a run.
Makenze Wolff pitched a complete game for Eureka and struck out six.
The two Big 5 rivals will conclude their three-game conference series with the make-up game on Monday at Washington Elementary School at 4 p.m.
