Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
A big year for McKinleyville High School sports continued on Wednesday.
With a 9-2 win over rival Arcata at McKinleyville High, the Panthers clinched this year’s Big 5 title outright in baseball, following the school’s first-ever outright Big 5 championship on the basketball courts three months ago.
But they had to battle against an Arcata team that was out to play the role of spoiler and a squad that looked well up to the challenge early on.
The Tigers came ready to play and took an early two-run lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first, while holding the home team scoreless through the opening few innings.
And with McKinleyville’s closest challengers Eureka winning up in Crescent City on Wednesday, the Panthers needed the victory to secure the pennant outright.
But with their championship hopes on the line, the McKinleyville players would answer the call, rallying to score five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a lead they would not relinquish.
“I think it’s a great achievement for the team,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “We’ve played well as a team all year, and we wanted to win it outright, and the kids got it done.”
It was, in the words of Dobrec, a good team win.
This is a McKinleyville squad that has had several different players step up on different days all spring, and that continued to be the case on Wednesday.
Eight different McKinleyville players combined for their 10 hits on offense, while two pitchers carried the load on the mound and both delivered.
Bode Reininger finished 2-for-4 and helped key the big fourth-inning rally with a big two-RBI hit just moments after teammate Hunter Carper was intentionally walked.
Carper also made his presence felt at the plate, hitting a big three-run home run in the fifth inning to stretch the lead to six and all but end any hopes of an Arcata comeback.
And all of this came about after a sluggish start for the team.
“We came out kind of flat, but the kids stuck with it,” Dobrec said, “Their first pitcher (Gavin Anderson) did a good job keeping us off balance, and then we got going in the fourth.”
Junior Rhythm Green got the start on the mound for McKinleyville and settled into the game, pitching five innings for the win, while giving up one earned run on four hits and striking out eight.
“Rhythm had a really gutsy performance. He faced some adversity today,” Dobrec said. “And I think the kids were struggling a little bit, but they figured it out. It was a team win.”
Joe Tanno also impressed for the champs, finishing 2-for-3, while Tyson Marshall was 1-for-1 with an RBI, Green was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Tate Saso finished 1-for-4 with an RBI.
James Fike (1-for-2) and Blake Santos (1-for-3) each also had a base hit in the win, which was the Panthers’ 20th of the year as they improved to 20-2 overall.
They closed out conference play 11-1.
Saso threw two innings in relief, giving up one hit and striking out three.
Canyon Martin led the Tigers at the plate and finished 3-for-3, while teammate Darian Rex was 1-for-3 with a double and Rylan Kees finished 1-for-4.
Anderson pitched four innings and took the loss on the hill, giving up five earned runs while striking out two and walking three.
Kees threw the final two innings, walking one and striking out three.
The loss ended the season for Arcata, which finished up 3-9 in the Big 5 and 8-16 overall.
But the team showed plenty of improvement as the season progressed.
“I really thought we got better throughout the year,” head coach Troy Ghisetti said. “We played competitive baseball today, and they readjusted and did a nice job getting hits and putting pressure on us.”
Wednesday’s game was the final high school games for a pair of Arcata seniors that have enjoyed plenty of success with the program — Tanner Kees and Charlie Mager.
“It’s a sad day because I have to say goodbye to Tanner Kees,” Ghisetti said. “He’s been one hell of a player for me. He won two section titles (in 2023 and 2025) and he’s done everything a coach could ever ask.
“And Charlie Mager, he’s just been a kid that came into our program and improved every year through his four years. It’s going to be tough to replace those two next year.”
The Tigers will miss out on the North Coast Section playoffs for just the third time in Ghisetti’s 30 years in charge of the program.
The Panthers, meanwhile, will advance to next week’s Charles Lakin Tournament, opening in the semifinal round on Thursday.
Before that, they will close out the regular season in a non-conference showdown against Little 4 champ St. Bernard’s on Friday afternoon at McKinleyville High.
