Fortuna girls top Del Norte, remain in the chase for Big 5 title

By barstoolfanatics on April 30, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

File photo – Fortuna’s Evalynn Little

The Huskies completed a conference sweep of Del Norte and kept their championship hopes alive with a 7-3 win in softball at Fortuna High on Wednesday.

But the game was close throughout and tied going into the sixth inning, before the home team took control with five runs.

With the victory, the Huskies improved to 6-4 in the Big 5 (17-4 overall) with two games remaining, but they trail conference leaders McKinleyville (7-2 in the Big 5) heading into the final week of conference action.

The Panthers have three Big 5 games remaining, two against Del Norte (5-4) on Saturday and one against Arcata (0-9), and they need two wins to take the title outright.

Whatever happens over the next few days, however, the Huskies took care of business on Wednesday to give themselves a chance.

Senior pitcher Isabel Sanchez and freshman shortstop Kaylee Castillo led the way for the home team.

Sanchez continued her impressive spring with another big outing in the circle, giving up just six hits and one walk to the three-time defending Big 5 champs and striking out 12.

She also finished 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs.

Castillo also made some noise at the plate and finished 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs.

Addie Collenberg (1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run), Mia Tiedeman (1-for-3 with a run), Sophia Castillo (1-for-4 with an RBI and a run) and Evalynn Little (1-for-4 with an RBI) each also had a base hit in the win.

The loss dropped the Del Norte girls to 5-4 in the Big 5, but they still hold their fate in their own hands and can catapult themselves into a tie for the conference lead with a doubleheader sweep at McKinleyville on Saturday.

If they can secure that all-important sweep, we could yet see a three-way tie for this year’s title, although McKinleyville remains in the driver’s seat in the race for the championship after improving to 7-2 in the Big 5 with a 9-2 win at Eureka on Wednesday.

No stats were immediately available for Del Norte.

Saturday’s doubleheader at McKinleyville gets under way at 11 a.m.

The Huskies will close out their conference schedule with a doubleheader against Arcata at Fortuna, also on Saturday at 11 a.m.