File photo – The Ferndale Wildcats

Tinnley Pidgeon returned to the Ferndale lineup for the first time this season on Thursday and had an immediate impact.

The junior standout and teammate Madison Gossi hit home runs on back-to-back at bats in game one of a doubleheader against visiting South Fork to help lead their team to a 7-6 extra-innings victory.

However, the Little 4 champion Cubs would bounce back to take game two 17-4 in six innings to salvage a split.

The game-one win for the Cats saw them finish in a tie with St. Bernard’s for third in the Little 4, but the third seed for next week’s Charles Lakin tournament went to the Crusaders after a tie-breaking coin flip on Thursday night.

The doubleheader got off to an exciting start.

The home runs by Pidgeon and Gossi — the latter of whom has been on fire at the plate in recent games — helped key a four-run fourth inning for the Cats and the teams were deadlocked after seven innings.

The Cats would pull out a walk-off victory in the bottom of the eighth.

Rainy Rodriquez singled to reach base and advanced to second on a Danica Dowd walk, before making it to third on a passed ball.

Caleigh Griffith then singled to score Rodriguez for the winning run to secure the victory in thrilling fashion.

“I thought, especially late in the first game, we played some of our best all-around ball of the season,” Ferndale head coach Jeremy Griffith said. 

Rodriguez and Alayna Cooney each finished 2-for-4 in the win, while Dowd, Quinn Stokesberry and Olivia Gossi each also had a hit.

Olivia Gossi pitched a complete game for the win in the circle and struck out eight.

Leila Coleman

Caleigh Griffith

The Cubs, who came into the day three wins clear of the chasing pack and could not be caught in the race for the championship, had to overcome two early injuries in the opener.

“Our first game is always our biggest struggle,” South Fork head coach Lisa Todd said. “It takes us a while to get going and we had two injuries in the bottom of the second inning … The girls adjusted to it. We just weren’t getting base hits.”

Hailey Shepherd finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of walks, while Calleigh Smith had a base hit and three walks and Elizabeth Chivington had a base hit and two walks.

Leila Coleman pitched a complete game in the circle and took the loss while striking out eight and walking one.

Game two, however, was a different story as the visitors scored eight runs in the opening two innings to quickly take control.

“Our bats finally came alive,” Todd said. “They focused in the box. Both teams hit well and played well today.”

Coleman finished 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and three RBIs, while her older sister, sophomore Mackenzie, finished 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk and an RBI.

Shepherd capped a big day with three more hits including a pair of home runs.

The standout sophomore, who is enjoying a good season with the conference champs, added three RBIs and also reached base on a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Molly Perkins also had two hits and an RBI for South Fork and Peyton Cherry added a base hit and two walks.

Leila Coleman got the win in the circle, striking out six and walking three.

Dowd and Rice led the Cats at the plate in the loss and each finished 2-for-3, while Rodriguez was 1-for-1 and walked twice.

Cooney, Stokesberry and Madison Gossi each also had a hit.

Despite not qualifying for the Lakin tournament, the return of Pidgeon will give the Ferndale girls a boost as they get set for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.

“Tinnley looked good, she hit the ball hard,” Jeremy Griffith said. “She didn’t look like today was her first game.”

As conference champs, the Cubs receive a top seed and opening-round bye for the Lakin tournament.

They open on Thursday against either Fortuna or St. Bernard’s.

The conference championship is the program’s first since 1990.