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The Fortuna Huskies did what they needed to do to keep their Big 5 softball championship hopes alive on Saturday. Now they must play the waiting game to see if it was enough.

The Huskies welcomed Arcata to Fortuna and swept a doubleheader, winning 10-0 in five innings and 9-1.

With the two victories, they closed out their Big 5 schedule with a record of 8-4 and kept pressure on conference leaders McKinleyville, which split a doubleheader against Del Norte on Saturday.

The McKinleyville girls are now 8-3 in the Big 5 with one remaining game and have clinched at least a co-championship.

The Panthers can claim the title outright with a win over Arcata (0-11 in the Big 5) on Wednesday afternoon.

Fortuna senior Hailee Thompson had a good day at the plate on Saturday, finishing with five hits over the two games, while senior pitcher Isabel Sanchez struck out 15 in 7.1 innings over the two games.

With their championship hopes on the line, the Huskies came to play and scored in four of the five innings they went to bat in game one, ending the game early with five runs in the fifth.

Thompson finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run, while junior Addie Collenberg also had a good game at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs.

Three other Fortuna girls also had multiple hits in a 12-hit team performance.

Olivia Hayes was 2-for-4 with two doubles four RBIs and two runs, while Sophia Castillo was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run, and freshman Keeley Ryles-Baker was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.

Sanchez pitched a complete game for the victory in the circle, allowing just one hit and no walks in a dominant performance and striking out 12.

Collenberg got the win in the circle in game two, pitching 4.2 strong innings and allowing just two hits and one walk and striking out five, with Sanchez closing out the game and pitching 2.1 hitless innings and allowing just one walk and striking out three.

The Fortuna bats continued to cause problems for the Tigers, racking up 13 more hits to give the home team 25 on the day.

Impressive junior Evalynn Little led the way and finished 3-for-4 with a double an RBI and a run, while Hayes, Thompson, Collenberg and Mia Tiedeman each also had multiple hits.

Hayes finished 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs; Thompson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run; Tiedman was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run; and Collenberg capped a big day by going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Castillo also had a double with two walks, two RBIs and two runs.

The Huskies are now 19-4 overall and guaranteed a No. 2 seed for the upcoming Charles Lakin Tournament, while the Tigers dropped to 6-14 overall.

The Tigers will close out their Big 5 schedule at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

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