Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday’s game between the Wild Cactus Baseball 17U and the Southern Humboldt 76ers.
The Northern Humboldt Giants will play for the championship of their own tournament on Sunday after a 6-5 win over Sutter in semifinal action on Saturday.
The eight-team three-day tournament, which is being played at McKinleyville High School, got under way on Friday and features four local teams, including the Giants, the Southern Humboldt 76ers and the Wild Cactus baseball 15Us and 17Us.
Also in action on Saturday, Siskiyous beat the Petaluma Leghorns 6-4 in the other semifinal to advance to play the host team for the championship, while the 76ers beat the Wild Cactus 17U 7-6.
The Wild Cactus 15U beat Red Bluff 13-4 in the late game.
The Giants are the only local team to win their opening two games at the tournament, having also defeated Red Bluff 23-2 on Friday.
Hunter Carper hit a grand slam for the Giants in their opener to lead a 16-hit team performance.
Gavin Anderson and Jake Brunner combined to pitch a two-hitter in the win.
The Giants continued to roll on Saturday, although their game against Sutter was a lot closer.
“That was probably our toughest game yet this season,” Giants head coach Eric Agliolo said.
Tate Saso, who is enjoying a good summer with the team, provided the offensive highlight of the game with a two-run home run, while teammate Rhythm Green led the way at the plate.
Green finished 3-for-3 with a triple and a double.
Joe Tanno also impressed and finished 2-for-3 with a double and a key two-RBI hit that scored the winning run in the sixth.
“We had some good hits today,” Agliolo said afterwards.
Hatcher Matson and Bode Reininger each also had a base hit in the win.
Matson got the start on the mound and threw 2.1 innings, giving up just one earned run on two hits and striking out one.
Tanno, Green and Carper all threw in relief, with the latter impressing in the final inning and striking out three.
Saturday’s championship game is set for 5:30 p.m.
