Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Arcata seniors and team captains celebrate Friday’s NCS championship win.

By Ray Hamill — Any time you win a North Coast Section title it’s special, but Arcata fans could be forgiven for enjoying this one just a little more.

On Friday evening, the Tigers entertained Kennedy in the Division-5 decider and won a hard-fought and well-played pitchers’ duel 1-0.

The victory secured the program’s fourth section crown in just eight seasons, further solidifying Arcata’s reputation as one of the most dangerous programs in the NCS postseason.

But that’s just half the story.

This one was achieved in a year that saw the Tigers finish no better than fourth in the Big 5 and in a season that saw several players leave the team early in the campaign for various reasons.

That, however, just opened the door for some other players who had seen limited playing time before, and they jumped at their opportunity and never looked back.

The championship was also achieved with some outstanding pitching.

In four playoff games, Arcata’s Ben Lukens, Tanner Kees and Anthony Ebert have given up just six hits combined and have thrown two no-hitters, including in Friday’s decider.

“I just think our pitchers have stepped up and absolutely dominated,” head coach Troy Ghisetti said. “Ben and Tanner and Ebert have done a really nice job in the four games.

“I knew when we got to two games per week we had the pitching where we could compete, and they did spectacular.”

The Tigers also no-hit Ygnacio Valley in their playoff opener and held De Anza to just one hit in their quarterfinal.

Friday’s game was highly entertaining and an old-school NCS classic, with Kennedy sophomore Isaiah Ebrahimi matching Lukens almost pitch for pitch throughout.

Lukens threw 6.1 innings for the win, walking five (one intentional) and striking out seven.

He crucially got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth by striking out Kennedy senior Rylan Padilla.

The inspirational strikeout seemed to give his teammates a lift, and the Tigers would score the only run of the evening in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to some outstanding base running by junior catcher Tanner Kees, who has established himself as arguably the most dangerous all-around player in the H-DNL.

Kees drew a one-out walk to reach base and then stole back-to-back bases to reach third.

Lukens then drove him home on a groundout for what would be the only score of the day.

“Tanner Kees has been one of our best base runners and he saw something and he stole second and put some pressure on them,” Ghisetti said. “He’s such a heady guy and he just takes control of the plate for us. He’s done a lot of things that go under the radar for us.”

Lukens, Ebert and Alex Greenway had one hit each in the win, while Ebert also pitched the final two outs of the game for the save.

The NCS championship, which comes one year after the Tigers didn’t even qualify for the playoffs, follows section titles Ghisetti and his teams won in 2016, 2019 and 2023.

(There were no NCS playoffs in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic.)

“Every team has got its own individual identity and I’m proud of every one of the section teams,” Ghisetti said. “They’re all unique.”

The identity of this year’s team is one that refused to quit in the face of adversity.

Losing so many players, including some key starters, merely lit a fire in those that remained with the team.

Players like third baseman Liam Gorona and first baseman Eli Joachim embraced the opportunity, as did versatile freshmen Emilio Medina and Joe Wellik, who each played multiple positions on the run to the section championship and played them all effectively.

“We never made excuses, it was next guy up,” Ghisetti said. “When their names got called, they stepped up, and the other guys that walked away, they’re sitting back and saying ‘I could have been a section champ.’”

Getting Ebert back from injury for the postseason run also was huge for the team, as was the play of inspirational senior team leader Finn Warner, who has been outstanding at shortstop.

“I’m just proud of the way the kids hung in there all year,” Ghisetti said. “My coaching staff — Eric Agliolo and Kevin Pelascini — have stepped up huge and kept the team going in the right direction. All credit goes to my assistant coaches.”

In fairness, a lot of credit also goes to the head coach.

In the spring of 2022, Ghisetti recorded his 400th win with the program.

On Friday, the longtime coach, who has been in charge of the Tigers since 1997, got win No. 459.

Few of them, if any, have been more special than this one, and this year might have been Ghisetti’s most impressive in the dugout when you consider the obstacles and adversity the team had to overcome.

Friday’s win not only secured a fourth section title for the program, but it also sends the Tigers on to next week’s NorCal playoffs for just the second time ever.

The question now is can they follow Friday’s section crown with a first-ever NorCal title.

With the way the Tigers are playing this postseason — in particular the way the pitchers are performing — few people will doubt them.

“I can’t wait,” Ghisetti said. “We’re going to get after it and it’s going to be fun.”

The NorCal brackets will be released on Sunday.