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By Ray Hamill — It was a very good week for a number of local youth athletes.

McKinleyville Little League has been a dominating force in District 26 over the past few summers and that continues to be the case this year,.

And after claiming another District championship at Hiller Park on Wednesday night, the Mack 12-year-old All-Stars are this week’s Humboldt Sports Team of the Week.

But they’re not the only young local athletes impressing right now, a fact that is highlighted in this week’s awards.

Our Athlete of the Week awards go to one of their rival players and a young wrestler who impressed at last weekend’s Rocky Mountain Nationals in Las Vegas.

Redwood Empire 12-year-old All-Star Parker Morgan enjoyed an outstanding District tournament and gave his team a chance at taking home the winning banner.

With the help of some solid defense from his teammates, the young pitcher dominated the hard-hitting Mack batters for much of Wednesday night’s game and he held them scoreless until he was pulled in the sixth inning because of his pitch count.

For good measure, Morgan also played a key role in getting his team to the championship round.

One of the best young all-around players in the county, Morgan hit a solo home run in an elimination game against Eel River on Tuesday night.

A 10-3 victory in that game put the RELL All-Stars in the championship round and set up Wednesday’s big showdown against McKinleyville.

The week, however, belonged the McKinleyville All-Stars, who dug deep in Wednesday’s deciding game while showcasing their never-say-die attitude.

Trailing by two runs going into the bottom half of the sixth and final inning, the tournament hosts would score three runs to sneak a 3-2 walk-off win and keep their season going.

And rounding out our weekly awards, Cirrus Villarruel had a big weekend competing against some of the top young wrestlers from around the nation at the Rocky Mountain Nationals.

The McKinleyville youth wrestler won a pair of tournament titles and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in the 8U division.

Photo by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Parker Morgan (center) and his teammates celebrate his home run in Tuesday’s elimination game at the District 26 tournament.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK 

Parker Morgan

Redwood Empire All-Stars

The young Morgan appears to heave a bright future in local baseball after a big showing at this week’s District 26 tournament.

His team may have ultimately lost in the championship game, but Morgan’s performance on the mound gave the Redwood Empire All-Stars an opportunity to win.

And that makes him a worthy choice for this week’s athlete of the week honors.

Cirrus Villarruel

McKinleyville Youth Wrestling

Villarruel enjoyed an outstanding trip to Las Vegas to compete at the prestigious tournament and took home titles in the 8U 70-pound and 74-pound divisions.

The young Humboldt County wrestler went a combined 6-0 in his six matches over both brackets in folkstykle competition and earned the respect of the tournament organizers by being named the 8U Most Outstanding Wrestler.

For more on his big week, see Local youth wrestler shines at Rocky Mountain Nationals …

TEAM OF THE WEEK 

McKinleyville 12 All-Stars

The Mack All-Stars continue to set the standard locally as they march on to next week’s Section tournament in Chico.

The same group of players that made it to the NorCal state tournament as 10-year-olds two years ago will look to repeat that and go one better this summer.

And judging by this week’s performance, they will be tough to stop.

Manager Kirby Hawkes and his players don’t give up easily and have shown they’re never really out of a game.

For more on their big week, see Resilient Mack All-Stars secure District crown with big comeback …