Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

The Crusaders had some fun swinging the bat on Thursday, basting four home runs in an 11-1 win over Hoopa in five innings at St. Bernard’s.

The victory keeps their unbeaten start to the season going, as they improved to 14-0 overall.

It also lifted them to 6-0 in the Little 4 halfway through the conference schedule.

And it will give them plenty of momentum heading into a big week, with two upcoming games against closest challengers Ferndale, which improved to 3-2 in conference play with a 16-6 win over South Fork on Thursday and has a game in hand.

Playing in windy conditions at Crusader Field, four different players hit home runs for the St. Bernard’s boys, who scored runs in all five innings they went to bat.

Maccory Rickson, Luke Brunton, Garrett Shanahan and Michael Manzi all hit the ball out of the park.

Garrett Shanahan got the win on the mound.

The junior pitcher threw four innings, giving up one earned run on two hits and three walks and striking out two.

Tyler Hinrichs, who signed his letter of intent to play football at Simpson University earlier this week, pitched one inning in relief and struck out two.

Brian Richards also hit a home run for the Warriors, scoring their only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning.

Richards finished the game 1-for-2, while teammate Barrett Myers was 1-for-1 with a double and Sonny White was 1-for-2.

With the loss, the Hoopa boys dropped to 0-5 in the Little 4 and 4-8 overall.

Next up, the Warriors will have a quick turnaround with a home make-up game against Ferndale on Friday afternoon with first pitch set for 4 p.m.

The Crusaders will play a non-conference game at home against Fortuna on Saturday, a game that was pushed back from Friday because of scheduling conflicts.

The Crusaders then host Ferndale on Tuesday, before traveling to Ferndale on Thursday.