This year’s Big 5 is shaping up to be a lot more competitive than it was 12 months ago.

After combining for just four wins in conference play in 2025, the Arcata Tigers and Eureka Loggers have impressed early in the 2026 season and both schools appear poised to give their conference rivals a much tougher challenge in the coming weeks.

While the Tigers were improving to 6-2 with a 10-5 win over Ferndale on Thursday, the Eureka Loggers continued to build momentum with a pair of wins at South Fork.

After going winless last year and managing just two wins in 2024, this year’s Loggers team is off to a much better start and is now 3-3.

After dropping a pair of close early-season games to defending Big 5 champion Del Norte and losing to Foothill, the Eureka girls have now won three straight and are starting to build some momentum and confidence.

On Thursday, they had to battle all the way against the defending Little 4 champs.

In game one, the Loggers scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to break a late tie, and they held on for a 7-3 victory.

They followed that with an 11-8 win in game two, once again breaking a late tie with three runs in the top of the seventh.

And they won both games with a balanced team performance with several players contributing, most notably Kylee Secor and Tiffany Harris.

In game two, Secor finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs, while Harris was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.

Makenzie Wolff pitched both games for the visitors, giving up just two earned runs in the opener while striking out eight and walking two.

In game two, the junior pitcher gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits, while walking two and striking out two.

Lola Distefino (1-for-4 with a run), Ella Moxon (1-for-4 with a run), Koko Saulque (1-for-4 with an RBI), Macy Secor (1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run), Jaycee Childress (1-for-4) and Harris (1-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run) each also had a base hit for Eureka in game one.

Senior Bailey Brown provided the offensive highlight of the opening game with a two-run home run in the top of the third to tie the game 2-2.

Brown finished the game 1-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

She would continue to hit the ball hard in game two, finishing 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.

The Loggers trailed 5-3 after three innings in game two, but scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead.

The home team would respond with three runs combined in the fifth and sixth to tie things up again, before Eureka added three more runs in the top of the seventh.

Moxon (1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs), Violla Kingsang (1-for-5 with a run), Bella Holbrook (1-for-4, two RBIs, a run and a stolen base), Macy Secor (1-for-4), Megan Secor (1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs) and Childress (1-for-4 with a run) each also hit successfully in the win.

No stats were immediately available for the Cubs, who dropped to 4-6.

The South Fork girls will try to bounce back when they travel to Hoopa for a doubleheader on Tuesday to begin the defense of the Little 4 title they won a year ago.

The Loggers will travel to Ukiah for a doubleheader on Saturday, with game one set for 11 a.m.