Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

After seeing a 16-game unbeaten run to start the season end earlier in the day, the Crusaders bounced back to beat Ferndale in Little 4 baseball at St. Bernard’s on Friday to clinch at least a share of this year’s championship.

St. Bernard’s got a busy day started in a non-conference game against Del Norte, as the Warriors ended their hosts’ unbeaten run with a 4-1 win in eight innings.

But the SB players would respond with an 11-5 win over Ferndale in game two of their doubleheader, completing a four-game conference sweep of their closest challengers.

With the win, the Crusaders improved to 8-0 in the Little 4 with four games remaining, and with second-placed Ferndale dropping to 4-4 in conference it secured at least a share of the title for the SB boys.

They can clinch the title outright with a win in any of their last four games against Hoopa and South Fork, or a loss for the Wildcats in one of their final four games.

“I was very proud of the team for how they bounced back from our first defeat and put together a solid performance against Ferndale,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said.

Senior Tyler Hinrichs had a big day at the plate and finished with five hits over the two games including going 3-for-3 in game two with two RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases.

Michael Manzi got the win on the mound against the Cats while battling a leg injury.

The senior pitcher threw all seven innings and held the visitors to no earned runs while allowing six hits and two walks and striking out eight.

“Michael Manzi put in a gutty performance on the mound, battling an injured leg for seven innings to get the win,” Tomlin said, while also praising the play of Hinrichs at shortstop.

Manzi also made some noise at the plate in the win, finishing 2-for-3 and scoring a run, while Luke Brunton was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Mason Noel hit a two-run home run, his first of the year.

Henry Hinrichs (1-for-4 with two runs), Garrett Shanahan (1-for-3 with two RBIs), Maccoy Rickson (1-for-3 with three RBIs) and Jarren Biondini (1-for-4 with a run) each also hit successfully for St. Bernard’s.

While the loss was obviously disappointing for the Wildcats, the players came to play and remained in the game until late with some aggressive defense.

“We had some chances where the ball bounced different ways,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said of his team defense, which had struggled in previous games against St. Bernard’s. “We still need to limit our mistakes, but today they were aggressive mistakes. It’s a lot easier to swallow the mistakes when they were effort mistakes.”

Tanner Pidgeon continued to hit the ball well for the visitors. 

The senior catcher finished 2-for-4, while teammate Cade Renner was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Justin Noga (1-for-3) and Prescott Langer (1-for-4) both also had a base hit in the loss.

Cash Mobley got the start on the hill and did a good job keeping his team in the game for the first four innings.

The sophomore pitched 4.1 innings and gave up eight hits and no walks while striking out eight.

Fellow sophomore Renner took over in the fifth and threw the final 1.2 innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch while striking out one.

Defensively, Ferndale third baseman Westin Ayala made some nice plays and “helped to keep us in the game,” his coach said.

With the loss, the Cats dropped to 12-4 on the season, with all four of their losses coming against the Crusaders.

They will try to get back on track when they travel to play at Hoopa on Tuesday, while St. Bernard’s will try to clinch the conference title outright at South Fork, also on Tuesday.

Also in Little 4 action on Friday, South Fork beat Hoopa 10-0.

Del Norte 4, St. Bernard’s 1, 8 innings

Earlier in the day, a shorthanded Del Norte team handed the Crusaders their first loss of the season while giving the Warriors a boost as they look to close out the Big 5 strong.

The game was tied 1-1 after seven innings, but Del Norte would add three runs in the top of the eighth and held on for the win.

“We played well,” Del Norte head coach Jeff Cook said. “I had different kids in different positions, and we did make a couple of errors. But we played well. We battled. It was definitely a team win.”

With the victory, the Warriors improved to 11-9.

Dominick Miller led Del Norte at the plate and finished 2-for-2, while Charlie Martell (2-for-4), Landon Williams (2-for-4) and Marco Gonzalez (2-for-4) each also had multiple hits in the win.

Ben Shrewsberry and freshman Jaxon Sharp each finished 1-for-3.

Williams got the start on the hill and pitched well, striking out eight before being pulled because of his pitch count in the seventh inning. Sharp took over and got the win in relief.

Freshman Teyler Bailey started on the mound for the home team and threw 5.1 solid innings for a no-decision, allowing just one unearned run on four hits and a walk and striking out six.

Sophomore closer Saehwan Kwon threw the final 2.2 innings and took the loss, giving up just one earned run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.

“We suffered our first loss of the season, but it was a good game and we will learn from it,” said Tomlin, who added that Bailey was “very impressive.”

“Bailey is one of the top young players in the H-DNL,” the St. Bernard’s coach said. 

Tyler Hinrichs got his big day off to an impressive start with two hits in the loss and scored on a Shanahan squeeze bunt to tie the game late and force the extra innings.

Max Collins also impressed for the Crusaders and finished 2-for-3.