File photo – The South Fork Cubs are Little 4 champions after sweeping a doubleheader against St. Bernard’s on Thursday.

It’s been a long time coming.

On Thursday afternoon, the South Fork Cubs swept a doubleheader of Little 4 games against St. Bernard’s to clinch this year’s Little 4 championship in softball.

It is the first conference championship for the program in at least two decades since MaxPreps began keeping records, and the players achieved it with room to spare.

The Cubs took game one 8-2 and won game two 11-4.

The wins lift the most dominating team in this year’s Little 4 to 8-2 in conference play and three wins clear of the chasing pack with two games remaining.

It also clinches a top seed for the upcoming H-DNL postseason Charles Lakin tournament.

Indeed, it’s been a remarkable turnaround for a  program that didn’t even field a team two seasons ago and a program that has just one winning record in conference play dating all the way back to 2005, according to MaxPreps.

But this title was well deserved and follows the North Coast Section championship this group of players achieved last spring.

“I’m proud of these girls,” South Fork head coach Lisa Todd said. “They have been working hard all season and it paid off. In the last two years they have accomplished a lot.”

Despite this being the program’s first Little 4 title in a long time, the Cubs have enjoyed plenty of success in the North Coast Section playoffs in recent years.

Todd has led the Cubs to three section titles in the last five postseasons.

The Cubs won Division-6 crowns in 2018, 2019 and last year when they defeated California School for the Deaf 12-1 in the championship game.

(There were no section tournaments in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.)

Freshman Leila Coleman got both wins in the circle on Thursday, while her sister Mackenzie made a welcome return to the lineup after missing the last three games through injury and had an immediate impact.

Leila walked four and struck out four in game one, while also helping her own cause at the plate and finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

She struck out nine and walked just one in the game two victory.

Mackenzie was 2-for-3 with a walk in the opener and 3-for-4 with three doubles and five RBIs in game two.

Kendall Kercher also had a good game in the opener, finishing 3-for-3 with two doubles and a walk, while Hailey Shepherd was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Molly Perkins also had a base hit and a walk for South Fork in game one.

File photos

“The girls played well today,” Todd said. “We had a lot of innings we left girls stranded on base. We cut down on our defensive errors, but we’re still a little impatient in the box.

“I think both teams played well.”

Kercher continued to impress with her bat in game two, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk, while Perkins capped a big day by going 2-for-4 with a walk.

Makenzie Brewer also impressed in the win and was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

The visitors, to their credit, pushed the Cubs for most of the game in the opener, and the score was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth before the Cubs pulled away late.

The in-form Makinsey Lemley continued to have the hot bat for the Crusaders and finished 2-for-4 with a double in game one, while teammate Chloe Grunden also was 2-for-4 with a double.

Anna Dorsch and Logan Tallman round out a six-hit team performance.

The Crusaders struck first in game two and took a two-run lead in the top of the first, but the Cusb would score 11 runs in the first three innings to take control.

Bailee White finished with three hits for the SB girls, while Lemley, Oni Orcutt and Tallman each had two hits.

Orcutt also drove in two runs and pitched both games.

Despite the two losses, the Crusaders remain well in contention for second in conference and have two big home games against Hoopa next Thursday.

The Cubs will conclude conference play in a doubleheader at Ferndale next Thursday.