Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Michael Manzi is greeted by his teammates at home plate after hitting a home run against Hoopa on Tuesday.

St. Bernard’s wasn’t supposed to be this dominant this spring.

But with the help of three outstanding seniors and a group of young players coming together at the varsity level quicker than expected, the Crusaders are exceeding expectations.

They continued to dominate their conference opponents on Tuesday, shutting out Hoopa 9-0 at Crusader Field for their 11th win in 11 Little 4 games, while improving to 20-2 overall.

They can close out a perfect conference campaign with a victory at Hoopa on Thursday afternoon.

Ferndale also has impressed in this year’s Little 4.

The Wildcats, whose only losses all season have come against St. Bernard’s, also enjoyed a shutout victory on Tuesday, topping South Fork 10-0 in five innings at Ferndale.

It was a good way for the Cats to celebrate their three seniors — Tanner Pidgeon, Prescott Langer and Tristen Titus — on senior day.

“It was nice to play an efficient game on senior day, which can be a distraction,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “We’ve been looking for the guys to clean things up, and today they did that.”

The Crusaders also honored their seniors on Tuesday, a class that includes Michael Manzi, Luke Brunton and Tyler Hinrichs.

Manzi celebrated the day with a home run, his second of the spring.

Junior Garrett Shanahan also had a big day.

Shanahan pitched two hitless innings, allowing three walks and striking out three, while also finishing 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, an RBI and two runs.

Henry Hinrichs (2-for-4 with an RBI), Mason Long (1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs), Maccoy Rickson (2-for-3 with two RBIs) and Mason Noel (1-for-1 with an RBI) each also hit successfully in the win.

Three pitchers combined for the shutout and 14 strikeouts.

Braylon Johnson pitched four innings for his first high school win, allowing two hits and a walk and striking out eight, with Long throwing one hitless inning in relief and striking out three.

No stats were immediately available for Hoopa, which dropped to 1-10 in the L4 and 5-13 overall.

Ferndale, meanwhile, improved to 7-4 in conference and 15-4 overall.

Sophomore Cash Mobley had another big day at the plate and finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run.

The team’s three seniors also had an impact at the plate.

Langer was 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI, Pidgeon was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs, and Titus was 1-for-3.

Langer and Pidgeon also combined on the mound to throw a two-hitter.

Langer threw three innings giving up one hit and one walk and striking out three, while Pidgeon pitched the final two innings and allowed one hit and two walks while striking out two.

Cade Renner (1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs), Colton Renner (1-for-2 with an RBI) and Westin Ayala (1-for-2 with an RBI and a run) each also had a base hit in the win.

No stats were immediately available for South Fork, which dropped to 3-8 in the Little 4 and 7-15 overall.

The two schools will close out the regular season against each other in Miranda on Thursday afternoon.