Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Fortuna players and coaches celebrate their tournament championship on Friday evening.

By Ray Hamill — The Fortuna Huskies ended an eight-year wait for a Charles Lakin tournament championship on Friday.

And they did it with an exciting come-from-behind victory over McKinleyville in the championship game at the Arcata Sports Complex..

Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Fortuna girls rallied to score six late runs on the way to a 6-4 win.

A Faith Helms bases-clearing double with two outs in the bottom of the fifth gave them a 4-3 lead and turned the momentum.

The Panthers answered with a run in the top of the sixth to leave the two Big 5 rivals deadlocked again, but the Huskies responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to secure the win.

Isabel Sanchez hit an RBI double to score teammate Myra Hayes, and she would reach home plate on the same play just moments later after a wild throw sailed into the Fortuna dugout.

The championship, which was their fourth in the 11-year history of the tournament, also breaks a tie with Eureka for most Lakin tournament titles.

More to come on the Huskies’ big win later on Friday, including video highlights and a full game report.