File photo – The Eureka Loggers
With this year’s Charles Lakin tournament switching venues to Belotti Field in Eureka because of the ongoing construction at the Arcata Ball Park, the host Loggers made sure they will be a part of it all with a doubleheader sweep on Monday.
In a pair of games that had been pushed back from Saturday because of the weather, the Loggers won the opener 12-2 in five innings and took a close game two 4-2 while getting out a late jam.
The two wins lift the Eureka boys to 6-4 in the Big 5 standings with two games remaining and means they can finish no worse than third.
And that’s good news for a Eureka program that has traditionally dominated the H-DNL postseason tournament.
So too is the fact the Loggers appear to be finding their groove at an opportune time after a season of ups and downs.
“We absolutely are,” said head coach Tommy Gale, whose team has now won four of its last five games in the Big 5, including a recent doubleheader split at co-conference leaders Del Norte. “I think we’re picking up momentum at the right time. I think we’re starting to fire on all cylinders.”
And a part of that has been the play of freshman Kyle Giacone, who had a big performance in game two on Monday and showed that the occasion was not too big for him.
Giacone pitched 6.2 innings and gave up just one earned run on two hits and two walks, while striking out 10.
“I think we got a little glimpse into the future of Logger baseball,” Gale said of the youngster’s performance. “He had a great outing. He really impressed.”
Giacone was pulled late because of his pitch count, and Sebastian Standish closed out a tight game to get the save.
Standish took over with the bases loaded and got the final out to officially knock the Tigers out of Lakin contention.
“It could have gone either way,” Gale said. “I’m glad we could finish the job.”
File photo – The Arcata Tigers
What made the young Giacone’s performance even more impressive was the fact he received just limited offensive support, with the Loggers scoring their four runs on just three hits.
The always dangerous Ty Crawford hit a double, with teammates Cole Zeller and Alex Jimenez each also getting a base hit.
Crawford also got the win on the mound in game one.
The junior standout pitched a complete game and gave up just two earned runs on six hits and five walks and struck out eight.
He helped his own cause and led the Loggers at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a triple.
Jimenez, a senior team captain, also was 3-for-3 and hit two doubles, while Jesse Vasquez was 2-for-3 with a triple.
Robert Williams and Garret Levitt each also went 2-for-3 in the win.
The two victories lifted the Loggers to 8-9 overall, while the Tigers dropped to 2-7 in the Big 5 and 10-10 overall.
Next up, on Wednesday the Loggers will travel to play conference co-leaders McKinleyville, while the Tigers will try to bounce back when they play a doubleheader against Fortuna on Saturday.
File photo – The Eureka Loggers
