File photo
The Arcata Tigers went down battling in their CIF NorCal opener in baseball on Tuesday evening, falling 9-8 in 10 innings at West Valley.
Just a few days after they captured the North Coast Section Division-5 championship, the No. 7 Tigers had to travel to play No. 2 seed West Valley in Cottonwood.
They appeared to be on the brink of an upset victory after carrying a two-run lead into the bottom of the seventh.
But the home team would rally to score a pair of runs to force the extra innings and then pulled out a walk-off win three innings later.
In an entertaining and back-and-forth showdown between two equally matched teams, the Tigers rallied from deficits of four and two runs before taking their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh.
“It was great,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said of the game. “Our kids, they showed so much resiliency.”
Junior Tanner Kees got the start on the mound, but the Tigers were unable to effectively contain a very good hitting West Valley team early in the game.
“That team could hit one through seven,” Ghisetti said. “They hit the ball pretty darn good.”
Ben Lukens then took over in the second and threw seven good innings for a no-decision.
Lukens walked one and struck out five.
Kees would return to the game for the ninth and 10th innings and was more effective than earlier in the game, but ended up taking the loss in the 10th.
Trailing 0-4 early in the game, the Tigers came alive at the plate in the top of the fourth and scored four runs to tie the game.
The home team, however, would respond with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to surge ahead again.
File photo
But the Tigers answered once again with four more runs in the top of the seventh to take control, before the late West Valley rally forced the extra innings.
“It goes right back to this team as a whole this year,” Ghisetti said of the performance. “It was always another guy up.”
Finn Warner provided one of the highlights of the day for the Tigers with a big double that plated two runs, while Charlie Mager also had a big two-RBI hit.
AJ Greenway was the only Arcata player to finish with multiple hits and was 2-for-4, while Kees and Liam Gorona each also had a hit.
“From top to bottom, somebody different showed up at different times throughout the year,” Ghisetti said of his players. “It was fun to watch, and it was fun to watch these guys grow.
“They really started playing together in the last six or eight games of the year.”
Despite the loss, the Tigers have plenty to feel good about after going further in the playoffs than any other H-DNL team and winning a fourth NCS title in eight postseasons.
“Even though it was a loss, it was a great game to send our seniors off,” Ghisetti said.
