Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Isabel Sanchez in action at McKinleyville on Monday.

By Ray Hamill — This week was a memorable one in local high school sports for many reasons.

We got the week started with the first perfect game of the season in softball, and followed that with a record-breaking performance just one day later.

And we capped it all on Thursday with an historic championship in the Little 4.

And each of those feats are included in our athletes and team of the week.

Fortuna junior Isabel Sanchez has been one of the most impressive pitchers in H-DNL softball since debuting at the high school level two years ago and she continues to grow in stature.

On Monday, she traveled with her teammates to McKinleyville for a pair of games the Huskies had to win to keep their championship hopes alive.

And she delivered, setting the tone with a perfect game in a 7-0 win in the opener, striking out 11.

The Fortuna defense also deserves plenty of credit, with multiple players making big plays along the way.

Not to be out done, just one day later, Arcata junior Skyler Collenberg broke a 51-year-old school record for the Arcata Tigers.

The track and field standout won the boys shot put with a throw of 53 feet in a league meet at Del Norte, beating his previous PR by more than two feet and recording the second best throw of the season in the entire North Coast Section.

A memorable week for local sports continued on Thursday when the South Fork girls ended a long wait for a Little 4 championship in softball with a doubleheader sweep over St. Bernard’s.

The league title is the first for the program in about as long as anyone in Miranda can remember and was well deserved, with the Cubs securing the championship with two games to spare.

And that makes the Cubs our team of the week.

Head coach Lisa Todd has done a remarkable job during her time at South Fork and has her team playing some outstanding ball this year.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Isabel Sanchez

Fortuna Softball, Junior

Sanchez showed us once again why she is one of the best pitchers in the H-DNL right now with an outstanding performance in the circle at McKinleyville on Monday.

The young pitcher plays with a composure like few others and has been a big reason why the Huskies are enjoying such a good spring.

“She was locked in and she was hitting her spots,” Fortuna head coach Eric Helms said.

For more on her big week, see Perfect Sanchez and her defense lift the Huskies to top spot in B5 …

Submitted photo

Skyler Collenberg

Arcata Track and Field, Junior

The H-DNL has enjoyed some outstanding performances in the throwing events in recent years and that continued to be the case this week.

Collenberg’s record-breaking performance on Tuesday was the league’s most dominating performance in the sport this spring and the second best mark in the shot put in the entire NCS.

The Arcata junior appears to be peaking at an opportune time with the league championships and section postseason fast approaching.

For more on his big week, see Three big NCS marks set at final regular-season HDN league meet …

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

TEAM OF THE WEEK

South Fork Softball

An impressive spring continued this week for the South Fork Cubs, who have established themselves as one of the best teams in program history.

This group of young players showed us what they were capable of last year when they won the Division-6 NCS championship, but they had unfinished business to take care of in the Little 4.

And this spring they did not disappoint, rolling through conference with eight wins in their first 10 games on the way to winning the L4 title with two games to spare.

Several players have stepped up in recent weeks, including sisters Mackenzie and Leila Coleman, as well as Kendall Kercher, Molly Perkins and Hailey Shepherd, among many others.

And with just two seniors on a roster of 14 — a group that includes nine underclassmen — the Cubs could be a dominating force in the Little 4 for the next few years.

For more on their big week, see South Fork Cubs end long wait, clinch L4 championship …