By Ray Hamill — One of the best young baseball players in the H-DNL and two teams that rose to the occasion this week feature in our weekly awards.

Ferndale sophomore Cash Mobley is the Humboldt Sports Athlete of the Week after a big week for the young player, just when his team needed it.

Mobley hit two home runs in what was a must-win game for the Ferndale boys on Tuesday, including a grand slam, to help keep the Wildcats in contention for this year’s Little 4 championship.

The youngster hit the ground running in his high school career as a freshman a year ago and has continued to establish himself as a key player on a good Ferndale team, playing multiple roles and continually making his presence felt at the plate.

After losing two games to St. Bernard’s in the opening week of this year’s Little 4, the Cats have left themselves with no room for error if they want to challenge the Crusaders for the conference crown.

And the players have responded by winning four straight games since then, including three wins this week, two over South Fork and one over Hoopa.

And Mobley helped keep his team’s title ambitions alive with a big week at the plate.

He hit successfully in all three games, including a career game at South Fork on Tuesday, when he finished 3-for-4 with the two home runs, five RBIs and four runs.

He clearly likes playing the Cubs, because he followed that performance with two more hits against them two days later, finishing 2-for-4 with a double.

He would add a sixth base hit for the week in a victory at Hoopa on Friday, with another RBI and two more runs.

And that makes him a well-deserved athlete of the week.

Two teams, meanwhile, tie for our Team of the Week honors.

It was a busy week for the McKinleyville baseball team, as the Panthers played five games in six days.

But they won all five, including a doubleheader sweep over Eureka on Monday, to take control of the race for this year’s Big 5 championship, and that makes them one of our teams of the week.

The Panthers are clearly the best team in the H-DNL right now and are playing excellent team baseball, with a deep and dangerous lineup and several players capable of stepping up on any given day.

The Hoopa softball team was equally impressive this week, albeit in a different way, and that earns the Warriors co-team of the week honors.

The Warriors kept themselves in contention for this year’s Little 4 title with a thrilling comeback and extra-innings win over St. Bernard’s on Tuesday.

Trailing by 10 runs going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hoopa girls needed a run to avoid losing on the 10-run rule and they delivered.

And that opened the flood gates.

After holding the Crusaders scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Hoopa girls added nine clutch runs in the bottom half of the inning to force the extra innings, and then scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on a Tylie McKinnon base hit.

That big victory not only leaves head coach Ryan Colegrove and her players tied or the Little 4 lead after six games, but it will give them plenty of momentum and confidence heading into the second half of conference play and a huge doubleheader at South Fork on Tuesday.