File photo – The Loggers won at Fortuna on Monday.

Bring on the Panthers.

The Eureka Loggers continued to take care of their business in Big 5 baseball on Monday, as they get set for a huge matchup against conference-leader McKinleyville at Belotti Field on Wednesday.

In a make-up game that had been pushed back from last week because of the weather, the Loggers traveled to Fortuna and won 20-2 in five innings to keep their title hopes alive.

With the win, the Loggers improved to 8-2 in the Big 5 and remain two wins behind the unbeaten Panthers (8-0) with two games remaining for Eureka and four for McKinleyville.

The Eureka boys will need to hand McKinleyville a first conference loss on Wednesday and hope Del Norte or Arcata can help them over the next nine days to secure at least a share of this year’s Big 5 championship.

But for now, they continued to take care of what they do control with a fifth straight win.

And they wasted little time taking control on Monday, scoring 13 runs in the top of the second and never looking back.

Ty Crawford, Garrett Levitt and Ryder Mitchell all had two hits in the win.

Crawford continues to play an MVP level and finished 2-for-2 with a double, three RBIs and a run, while Levitt was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs and Mitchell was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run.

With the game well in hand early on, Eureka head coach Tommy Gale used the opportunity to give some of his back-ups some game time.

“We were able to get some of the guys off the bench,” Gale said. “It was good for the future of the program.”

A young Fortuna team continued to gain some valuable experience.

Two of the Huskies’ sophomores — Greg Fitzgerald and Cannon Dunphy — each drove in a run for their team, and both players “continue to progress as hitters,” according to Fortuna head coach Andy Petersen.

“We had two bad innings, so I feel like we’re just two innings away from flipping the switch on how each games goes,” Petersen said. “We have the ability, we just need to button down and stop the floodgates from opening when it starts leaking.”

Bryson Burns, Kyle Giacone, Jesse Vasquez and Fisher Osborn each also had a double for Eureka, which improved to 16-6 on the season.

Next up, on Wednesday, Eureka hosts McKinleyville, where a win for the visitors would secure at least a share of this year’s Big 5 crown, while Fortuna hosts Del Norte.

File photo