Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Friday’s Eel River All-Stars game.

The Eel River 8-10 All-Stars answered the call in emphatic fashion on Saturday.

With their backs to the wall and their season hanging by a thread, the District 26 champs rallied to pull out a 12-5 win over East Redding in an elimination game at the Section tournament at Firemen’s Park in Ferndale.

The young Eel River players overcame a 4-3 deficit with seven runs in the fifth inning, all of them coming with two outs.

The win came less than 24 hours after they lost their tournament opener in extra innings, falling 16-13 to Central Chico in seven.

“It was a big response to come back with a whole new mindset for today’s game, and it really showed,” Eel River manager Erik Bess said. “They were on fire today.”

Jayce Fockaert set the tone on the hill and threw 5.2 innings on 75 pitches, 55 of which were strikes.

“He came out and pounded the zone,” the manager said of the nine-year-old, who had six strikeouts. “He kept them off balance all game long.”

He got plenty of help from an offense that has scored 25 runs in two tournament games, and a defense that was equally impressive after some struggles on Friday.

Shortstop Braden Bohn helped get the defense on track with two nice plays in a one-two-three opening inning.

“He kind of set the tone for us right there,” said Bess, who added “Everybody did their part. One through 13 all had a base hit.”

Friday’s game ended in disappointment, but the young Eel River players showed a ton of resilience, battling back from an early six-run deficit to force the extra inning.

“We had chances. It was more the mental mistakes that let it get away,” Bess said. “But we rallied. We came back, and it was back and forth, back and forth. They battled all the way.”

Among the highlights for Eel River in Friday’s game, Bohn hit an inside-the-park grand slam and reached base all three times he went to bat.

Reece Killingsworth, who is enjoying a big tournament at the plate, also impressed and finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a pair of runs, 

Knox Danielson had a pair of hits, finishing 2-for-4 and scoring twice, while Carter Bess added a hit, an RBI and scored two runs, as the Eel River bats racked up 10 hits and 11 RBIs.

Bowen Holmgren, Bohn, Danielson, Brodi Maniaci, and Carter Bess all saw time on the mound.

The Eel River All-Stars will try to keep their season going in another elimination game on Sunday.

They will play either Central Chico or Sutter Butte at 11 a.m.