Submitted photo – The Crusaders celebrate their tournament championship on Saturday afternoon.

Solid pitching, quality at-bats and improved defense lifted the Crusaders to a championship at the Yreka tournament on Saturday afternoon.

St. Bernard’s faced off against Lassen in the tournament final and won 13-2 in five innings, stretching the team’s unbeaten start to the season to six straight games.

And they won with a balanced team performance.

After overcoming a disappointing day on defense in a tournament-opening win over Yreka on Thursday, the Crusaders followed that with a 10-0 win over Etna on Friday, before capping three good days with another strong offensive performance on Saturday. 

“It was a great weekend for our team,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “Our pitching was solid in all three games, we played better defense the last two games, and our bats came alive and we smashed the ball all over the ballpark.

“I am very proud of the boys.”

Senior Michael Manzi had a big day in Saturday’s win, both on the mound and at the plate.

The SB standout pitched a complete game for the win, allowing four hits and three walks and striking out four.

Manzi did not give up any earned runs.

The senior also finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, three RBIs and two runs.

Henry Hinrichs, Mason Long and Braydon Johnson each also had multiple hits in the win.

Hinrichs finished 2-for-2 and scored three runs, while Long was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Johnson was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.

The Crusaders took control of the game with five runs in the bottom of the second inning and would add six more in the third on the way to ending the game early on the 10-run rule.

Tyler Hinrichs continued his impressive start to the new season with another disciplined day at the plate, finishing 1-for-2 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs, while Luke Brunton was 1-for-2 with a double and three RBIs.

Mason Noel was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Next up, the Crusaders will play a home doubleheader against Arcata on Friday with game one set for 2 p.m.