By Ray Hamill — The Crusaders will carry plenty of momentum into what will be a huge week for the team next week.

On Friday, the St. Bernard’s boys welcomed Arcata to Crusader Field and swept a baseball doubleheader to keep their perfect start to the season going.

The Crusaders took control of a tight opening game late on a Luke Brunton home run and held on for a 5-1 victory.

They followed that with an 8-1 victory in game two, improving to 8-0 as they get set to play Little 4 rivals Ferndale twice next week in a pair of games that will likely go a long way towards deciding this year’s conference championship.

And they beat the Tigers with a lot of young players rising to the challenge.

“What I was most impressed with today is that we were down three starters and had to start four freshmen in each game to fill the holes,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “The freshmen all stepped up and contributed to the victories.”

The losses dropped the Tigers to 5-7 as they get set for a doubleheader at Del Norte next week to begin the Big 5.

“I thought we had a good day, we just had a couple of innings that cost us and St. Bernard’s took advantage,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said.

While the freshmen impressed for the home team, it was the play of three seniors that carried them over the finish line.

Brunton, the reigning Little 4 MVP, finished 2-for-3 with the home run and two RBIs in the opener, his first-ever home run at any level.

The two-run blast came in the bottom of the sixth inning and broke a 1-1 tie.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

Fellow seniors Michael Manzi and Tyler Hinrichs both also impressed for the home team, turning in strong pitching performances.

Manzi got the start in the opener and pitched a complete game, giving up just one earned run on three hits and two walks and striking out nine.

“Manzi was dominant on the mound and pitched outstanding,” Tomlin said of the influential senior, who threw just 94 pitches with an efficient performance.

Hinrichs was equally impressive in game two, giving up just one earned run on two hits and two walks in six innings and striking out 10.

Sophomore Saehwan Kwon took over with two runners on in the top of the seventh and struck out three batters to help see his team over the finish line.

“It was a dominant 13-strikeout performance from both pitchers,” Tomlin said.

For good measure, Hinrichs also finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs in the opener and scored the winning run on Brunton’s home run just moments after he doubled to reach base.

Two of the St. Bernard’s freshmen — Jayce Robinson and Brody Gaser — each also had a big say in the game-one win.

Robinson finished 1-for-3 with a key two-out, two-RBI base hit moments after Brunton’s home run to give his team a four-run lead heading into the seventh and take the wind out of the Tigers’ comeback hopes.

Gaser finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, tying the game in the fifth after the Tigers had taken an early lead.

Gavin Anderson pitched well for the visitors in the opener, keeping a dangerous SB lineup in check for much of the game.

Anderson pitched six innings and did not walk anyone while striking out five.

Tanner Kees led the Tigers at the plate and was 2-for-3 with a double, while freshman Zack Platt finished 1-for-1 to round out a three-hit team performance.

After his big pitching performance in game one, Manzi had the hot bat in game two, finishing 3-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and two runs.

Brunton also continued to swing the bat well in game two, finishing 2-for-4 with another RBI.

Sophomores Max Collins and Henry Hinrichs also made some noise at the plate for SB in game two.

Collins went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while the younger Hinrichs was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Emilio Medina provided the offensive highlight of game two for Arcata, hitting a home run and finishing 1-for-2, while Kees was 1-for-2 and Platt capped a big day with another base hit.

Kees got the start on the mound and struck out seven in five innings, before his younger brother, freshman Rylan Kees, came in to throw the final two innings and struck out three.

“I thought our pitchers pitched really, really well,” Ghisetti said. “We just threw a couple of curve balls that hung up a little bit.”

The Tigers will open conference play with a doubleheader at Del Norte a week from Saturday, while St. Bernard’s travels to play Ferndale on Tuesday, before hosting the Wildcats two days later.