Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s players and coaches celebrate their championship on Tuesday.

By Ray Hamill — St. Bernard’s baseball was crowned outright conference champs this week, while an Arcata High golfer clinched a league title and a Ferndale senior continued his hot streak at the plate.

And all of them feature in our weekly awards.

The Crusaders had clinched at least a share of this year’s Little 4 title in baseball coming into the week, but they continued to take care of business with two more conference wins to ensure they would not have to share the crown.

Head coach Matt Tomlin and his players have been one of the most  impressive teams in the H-DNL this spring and have lost just once all year, while posting a perfect record in conference play heading into their final two games.

And that makes them our choice for team of the week for the second time this spring.

Joining them in our weekly awards are a couple of H-DNL seniors who continued to set the pace in their respective sports this week.

Arcata’s Ryzen Miller was crowned league champion in H-DNL golf on Thursday, capping an impressive run through league play.

Miller edged freshman teammate Matisse Stuan by four strokes for the league title in what was an exciting spring on the local courses.

And that makes Miller one of our choices for athlete of the week.

Ferndale senior Tanner Pidgeon is our second athlete of the week as he continues his impressive streak at the plate.

The multi-sport standout has on fire over the last two weeks, going an incredible 12-for-15 at the plate in his last four games.

He continued to excel in an 8-1 win over Hoopa on Thursday, finishing 3-for 3 with two triples, an RBI and three runs.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Ryzen Miller

Arcata Boys Golf, Senior

Miller is the 2026 H-DNL boys golf champion after a hard-fought campaign with his teammate that saw just four strokes separate the two league frontrunners over six rounds of league play.

Miller took the victory in two rounds, at Fortuna earlier in the season and at Baywood on Monday, when he shot a 75 to beat the field.

His big season not only secured the individual title for the impressive senior but also a team championship for the Arcata boys.

Miller and his teammates will now turn their attention to the upcoming North Coast Section postseason.

Tanner Pidgeon

Ferndale Baseball, Senior

Pidgeon has been one of the most exciting local high school athletes to watch over the past four years and that continued to be the case this week, as he racked up seven hits over two games against South Fork.

The impressive Pidgeon finished the week 7-for-8 with a home run, two triples, three RBIs and seven runs.

One of the best football players on the North Coast in the fall, Pidgeon was also an all-league selection in basketball and has been every bit as impressive on the baseball fields this spring.

The outstanding senior appears determined to close out his high school career with a bang and more importantly appears to be enjoying every moment of it.

For more on his big week, see Hard-hitting Pidgeon leads Cats past the Warriors in L4 action …

TEAM OF THE WEEK

St. Bernard’s baseball

The Crusaders are conference champions for the second straight year after improving to 10-0 in the Little 4 with pair of victories over South Fork this week.

What’s perhaps most surprising about this year’s team is how quickly a very young roster has come together, and with numerous talented freshmen and sophomores they look like they will be the team to beat in the Little 4 for the next few seasons.

But the young players could not have won this year’s title without the steady presence of three outstanding seniors — Michael Manzi, Tyler Hinrichs and Luke Brunton — each of whom are playing at an MVP level.

Tomlin and his players will close out the regular season with four games next week, including a mouthwatering matchup against Big 5 leaders McKinleyville on Friday, before turning their attention to the upcoming Charles Lakin Tournament.

For more on their big week, see LITTLE 4 BASEBALL — St. Bernard’s clinches L4 outright; Wildcats win …