Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Senior Rikki Lipscomb continued to have the hot bat for the Warriors on Tuesday, as they swept a Little 4 doubleheader at Ferndale to keep their title ambitions on track.

Lipscomb, who has been red-hot at the plate this spring, finished with multiple hits in both games, leading the Warriors to a 12-0 win in six innings in the opener and a hard-fought 9-7 win in game two.

With the two wins, the Warriors improved to 3-1 in the Little 4 and moved into a tie atop the standings with the South Fork Cubs, who swept a doubleheader against St. Bernard’s on Tuesday.

The losses were the first in conference for the Ferndale Wildcats, who were playing without influential senior Madison Gossi, who missed the games for personal reasons.

It was a tale of two different games for the Cats.

“We came out pretty flat,” admitted Ferndale head coach Jeremy Griffith. “In game one, we really didn’t make any adjustments.

“I thought their pitcher (Monteya Colegrove) pitched well. She was throwing pretty hard in that first game and we didn’t make the adjustments.

“But in the second game we made some adjustments and were able to score some runs. Our energy was a little better as a team all around.”

Colegrove posted both wins in the circle as she continued to play at a high level for the visitors, striking out 29 for the day.

The senior pitcher threw a one-hitter with 16 Ks in game one, while walking four and hitting one batter, and added 13 strikeouts in the second game, while walking five and hitting one batter.

And she got plenty of offensive support as the Warriors racked up 21 runs.

Lipscomb finished 3-for-5 with a triple and a double in the opening game, while Tsisna McCovey (2-for-to 4 with a double) and Tylie McKinnon (2-for-4) each also had multiple hits in that win.

Colegrove (1-for-3) and Kalia Mitchell (1-for-4) each also hit a double, with Angela Hern (1-for-3) and Kiera Ashley (1-for-3) rounding out an 11-hit team performance.

Freshman Abagail Gossi got the only hit of game one for the Cats, finishing 1-for-3.

Her sister, junior Olivia Gossi, pitched all six innings for Ferndale, allowing four earned runs and striking out six.

Lipscomb continued to see the ball well in game two, finishing 2-for-5 with her second triple of the day, while Hern finished 3-for-4 and Mitchell was 2-for-2 with her second double of the day.

McCovey (1-for-4 with a double) and Roxy Colegrove (1-for-4) each also had a base hit in the win.

The Wildcats hit the ball better in game two, with Caleigh Griffith leading the way and finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Tinnley Pidgeon (2-for-2) provided the offensive highlight of the day with a two-run home run, while Abagail Gossi (2-for-3 with three runs) and Olivia Gossi (1-for-3 with a double) each also hit successfully.

With Madison Gossi missing, the Cats were forced to switch up their lineup.

“We had girls playing out of position, but they stepped up,” Jeremy Griffith said.