Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Violla Kingsang scores for Eureka during game two of Saturday’s doubleheader at Arcata.
The race for this year’s Big 5 championship in softball remains up in the air after Saturday’s four games, as the excitement continued to build.
Conference leaders McKinleyville traveled to Fortuna and split a doubleheader to remain atop the standings, while the Eureka girls traveled to Arcata and swept two games to keep their title hopes alive.
Fortuna took the opening game against McKinleyville, 6-5, but the visitors would respond quickly, dominating game two on the way to a 16-4 win.
At Arcata, the Loggers edged a competitive Tigers team 4-3 in game one, before winning 14-4 in game two.
McKinleyville is now 6-2 in the standings, followed closely by Del Norte, which is 5-3, as well as Eureka (6-4) and Fortuna (5-4).
At Fortuna, the home team got the day off to a good start with a narrow victory in game one.
The Huskies scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the visitors would claw their way back, plating runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings to take a 5-4 lead.
But the Huskies would have the final say, adding a run in each of the fourth and sixth innings to sneak ahead again and holding on for an important win.
Isabel Sanchez (2-for-3 with a double and a walk) and Hailee Thompson (2-for-3 with a triple, a double and an RBI) each had multiple hits in the win, while Evalynn Little added a home run, her seventh of the spring.
Sophia Castillo (1-for-3 with a walk and three runs), Mia Tiedeman (1-for-3 with an RBI) and Sephora Machado (1-for-1) each also had a base hit in the win, while Sanchez pitched all seven innings for hard-fought victory in the circle.
The outstanding senior pitcher struck out 15 batters while allowing five hits and four walks.
Senior McKennah Sargent, who is one of this week’s Humboldt Sports Athletes of the Week, continued to play a key role for the Panthers, both at the plate and in the circle.
Sargent, who is closing out her high school career with a bang, hit another home run after hitting two of them at Arcata last week, and finished 1-for-4 at the plate in game one with two runs and two RBIs.
She also had good game in the circle, allowing just seven hits (according to the McKinleyville scorebook) and five walks while striking out 12.
Addison White also had a good game at the plate for the visitors, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and a run.
Cabella Carper (1-for-4), Liana Stumpf (1-for-4 with a run), Avery Bartoo (1-for-3) and Ashton Rodriguez (1-for-4 with a double and an RBI) each also had a base hit in the loss.
The Panthers would break open a competitive game two with seven runs in the top of the fifth to open up a 13-4 lead.
They had to overcome a couple of early deficits, but would score runs in six of the seven innings as they continued to chip away.
Sargent continued to help set the tone for the conference leaders and was one of three Panthers to have multiple hits in the win, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and three runs.
The hard-hitting Carper also had two doubles, finishing 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs ad two runs, while Stumpf finished 2-for-5 with three runs.
Sargent pitched all seven innings for her second win of the day in the circle, holding a dangerous Fortuna lineup to just four hits in one of her team’s most important games of the spring, especially after dropping game one.
The senior pitcher did allow six walks and struck out four.
Leili Guerrero (1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs), White (1-for-4 with an RBI, a run and a walk) and Rodriguez (1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk) each also had a base hit in the win.
Thompson had a double and an RBI for the Huskies, while Little, Machado and Keeley Ryles-Baker each also had a base hit.
Ryles-Baker also drove in two of her team’s runs.
Sanchez took the loss in the circle, giving up 10 hits and striking out 10 in 4.1 innings, before Kaylee Castillo came in to close out the game, allowing one hit and two walks in 2.2 innings and striking out two.
Eureka 4, Arcata 3
Eureka 14, Arcata 4
The Loggers kept their championship hopes alive with a doubleheader sweep at Arcata, although game one was very competitive and could have gone either way.
The visitors trailed by a run going into the sixth, but battled back to tie things up, before adding another run in the top of the seventh to sneak the come-form-behind victory.
Macy Secor finished 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI, driving in the game-wining run in the seventh.
Bailey Brown also had a big say in the win as she continues her very impressive senior season, finishing 1-for-3 with a two-run home run.
Violla Kingsang (1-for-2 with a run and two walks), Jaycee Childress (1-for-2), Ella Moxon (1-for-3) and Tiffany Harris (1-for-4) each also had a base hit in the win.
Mackenzie Wolff pitched all seven innings for the win in the circle, allowing just three earned runs with two strikeouts and one walk.
Arcata’s Peyton Miller got a big day started in game one with the first of two home runs for the afternoon, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Nallia Meyer (1-for-3 with an RBI and a run), Josie Cunningham (1-for-3), Abby tyner (1-for-3) and Riley Houston (1-for-3) each also had a base hit in the loss.
Houston pitched all seven innings, allowing just six hits and three walks and striking out one.
“It was a good first game in the circle for Riley Houston,” Arcata head coach Jason Miller said. “She got us the ground balls and the pop ups we needed to put us in a position to win.
“We made a few small defensive mistakes and ultimately it cost us the first game.”
The Eureka bats came alive in the third inning of game two, as the Loggers began to take control with seven runs in the third and fourth innings combined.
The Loggers stretched the lead to 10 going into the bottom of the sixth, but the Tigers continued to battle with Miller’s second home run of the day highlighting a four-run sixth inning for the team.
Wolff continued to help set the tone in the circle, posting her second win of the day and allowing just five hits and three walks, according to the Eureka scorebook, and striking out four.
Brown and Macy Secor continued to lead the way at the plate and finished with three hits each, including a double and four RBIs each, while Lola Distefano was 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Childress also had three hits and two RBIs, while Kingsang and Harris added two hits each, including two doubles and two RBIs by the latter.
Megan Secor also had two doubles, with Kylee Secor and Moxon each adding a base hit.
Miller added a second home run to help key the four-run sixth for Arcata, with Alli Mitchell and Meyer each adding two hits and Lily D’usseau rounding out a six-hit team performance.
“Game two we came out flat offensively and it took us way too long to get going,” Jason Miller admitted. “And with how good they hit we just couldn’t battle back.”
