Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Rhythm Green delivers a pitch against Fortuna on Wednesday.

The Panthers began conference play in emphatic fashion on Wednesday, cruising to a comfortable 15-0 win over Fortuna in five innings at McKinleyville High School.

Juniors Rhythm Green and Bode Reininger combined to hold the visitors to just one hit all game, as the Panthers improved to 1-0 in the Big 5 and 10-1 overall.

Fortuna dropped to 0-3 and 1-10.

It was a good performance for the home team in more ways than one.

“We played pretty well as a team,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “We came out and we hit the ball well and overall it was a good way to start league.”

Green got the start and threw three strong innings, giving up just one hit and striking out five.

It was his second win of the year.

“Rhythm threw great today,” Dobrec said. “He threw first-pitch strikes, worked ahead in the count and let his defense work behind him.”

Reininger was equally impressive throwing two hitless innings in relief and striking out one.

The two pitchers got plenty of offensive support, with six different McKinleyville players hitting successfully.

Another junior, Hunter Carper, had the highlight play of the day, hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning as the Panthers ended the game early on the 10-run rule.

Carper finished 2-for-4 and had four RBIs.

Tate Saso, who is averaging a very impressive .475 at the plate, also had a good day and finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while teammate Jake Brunner was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Joe Tanno (1-for-2 with an RBI), James Fike (1-for-2 with an RBI) and Pat Wilson (1-for-3 with an RBI) each also had a base hit in the win.

Senior Alex Sharkey had the only hit of the day for the visitors, finishing 1-for-2 with a double.

Next up, on Saturday, weather permitting, the Huskies will try to bounce back when they travel to Crescent City to play a doubleheader against Del Norte, while the Panthers will host a doubleheader against conference-leading Eureka (3-0) in a pair of games that could go a long way towards deciding this year’s Big 5 title.