Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Hoopa pitcher Monteya Colegrove, right, and catcher Kalia Mitchell react during Thursday’s doubleheader at St. Bernard’s.

By Ray Hamill — An 0-9 start to the season must seem like a long time ago to the Hoopa Warriors.

No team in the H-DNL has improved as much from the beginning of the season to now as the Hoopa girls, who closed out the regular season with a doubleheader sweep at St. Bernard’s on Thursday.

And no player has played a bigger role in that turnaround than pitcher Monteya Colegrove.

The junior team ace was impressive once again on Thursday, leading the Warriors to a 4-0 win in the opener and a 6-2 victory in game two.

The two wins secured second place in the Little 4 and earns the Hoopa girls a No. 2 seed for next week’s Charles Lakin tournament, which gets under way at the Arcata Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Colegrove reached a couple of big milestones in Thursday’s sweep, recording her 100th strikeout in conference play and her 150th for the season.

Hoopa head coach Jordan Colegrove-Avery described it as an “awesome accomplishment.”

The young pitcher finished with 108 Ks in conference play, an average of nine a game, and 157 for the season.

With five wins in their last six conference games over the second half of the Little 4 campaign, the Hoopa players will carry plenty of momentum into next week’s Lakin tournament.

“Mentally they were prepared to play today and it was pretty awesome to see,” head coach Jordee Colegrove-Avery said. “I hope they continue to succeed through the postseason. They’re a tough team.”

The sweep lifted the Warriors to 7-5 in conference play and guarantees they will be eligible for the North Coast Section playoffs.

They are currently the No. 7 ranked Division-5 team in the NCS, according to MaxPreps.

With the two losses, the St. Bernard’s girls closed out conference play 4-8 and tied with Ferndale for third.

However, the Crusaders got some good news on Thursday night when the H-DNL announced they won a tie-breaking coin flip to decide which school receives the conference’s No. 3 and final seed for the Lakin tournament.

They open against Fortuna on Tuesday evening at the Arcata Sports Complex.

St. Bernard’s head coach Hailey Wilson also was impressed with Colegrove’s performance in the circle, as well as that of her own starting pitcher, sophomore Oni Orcutt.

“Both sides pitched well today,” Wilson said. “It really came down to errors, and we made more.

“Hoopa played a strong defensive (game). Hats off to Monteya Colegrove, she threw great.”

The Hoopa pitcher got plenty of support from both her defense and offense.

Angela Hern, who is also enjoying a big season with the team, finished 3-for-3 in game one and added another hit in the second game before exiting with an injury.

Tylie McKinnon began the day well and helped set the tone for her teammates with a big two-RBI base hit in the top of the first as the Warriors took an early three-run lead.

Coco Low led the Crusaders at the plate in the opener and was 2-for-3, while teammate Anna Dorsch added a double.

Orcutt pitched both games for the home team and had six strikeouts on the day.

The SB bats had a better game two, with Logan Tallman and Makinsey Lemley each finishing with two hits, including a triple by the hard-hitting Lemley.

Teghan Smith added a double, while Bailee White had a hit and a walk and Orcutt helped her own cause with a base hit.

Several players impressed for Hoopa in game two, including Kalia Mitchell, McKinnon and Rikki Lipscomb, who all had some early hits in what was another good start to the game for a determined lineup.

Roxy Colegrove added two hits in the win and had some “awesome base running,” according to her coach, including scoring on a bunt by Kiera Maloney.

Freshmen Amakyarram Bennett Blake and Bella Baldy also had some big catches on defense, while Roxy Colegrove, Monteya Colegrove, Kiera Ashley and Hern all made some big defensive plays as well to help their pitcher.

“I wish they could have showcased some more on their batting, but overall they got the wins and held strong,” Colegrove-Avery said.

With the sweep, the Warriors improved to 9-15 overall, with eight of those wins coming in their last 11 games.

The Crusaders dropped to 10-13 overall.